Procedure to diagnose onychomycosis through changes in emissivity on infrared images.

A noninvasive, quick, reliable, and relatively cheap procedure for the diagnosis of onychomycosis is put forward. It is known that a nail may show an abnormal appearance, although only 50% of all the nails having such an appearance may owe it to the presence of onychomycosis; hence, adequate diagnosis of nail disease is needed for appropriate prescription of medication and treatment of the nail. In order to contribute to the process of improvement in the diagnosis, a procedure based on the analysis of medium-range infrared images is presented in which it is possible to observe energy changes mostly due to the changes in emissivity of the nail. As a nail is more affected by onychomycosis, such changes become more intense. Also, it was found that a nail without onychomycosis has a lower temperature than toe skin, but has a higher emission of energy. Fifty percent of the ailments that may a cause a fingernail or toenail to have an abnormal appearance are not considered in the present work.