Utility of lacrimal caruncle infrared thermography when monitoring alterations in autonomic activity in healthy humans.

Abstract

Physiological markers that estimate sympathetic activation may be used to infer pain and stress in humans. To date, effective reproducible methods are invasive and pose an undesired risk to participants. Previous work in animal models has used infrared thermography to measure the temperature of the lacrimal caruncle region and may be a promising method for measuring stress and pain non-invasively. The current study aimed to determine whether this method is useful in humans.