Foot temperature monitoring plays a key role in preventing diabetic foot ulceration. A technical validation study published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology evaluated the accuracy of a noncontact infrared foot temperature monitoring system against a reference-standard thermal imaging method.

The study included 107 participants with a mean age of 48 years, of whom 49% were female. Participants were grouped into individuals with diabetes and active foot ulceration, diabetes without foot ulcers, and healthy controls without diabetes. Foot temperature measurements were obtained using both imaging systems, and inter-foot temperature differences were analyzed across all groups.

Strong agreement was observed between the noncontact system and the reference standard, with no evidence of systematic bias. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.95, indicating excellent reliability. The typical measurement error was 0.31°C. Agreement was consistent across participants with diabetic foot ulceration, diabetes without ulcers, and healthy controls.

These findings confirm that noncontact infrared thermal imaging provides valid and reliable foot temperature measurements. Accurate detection of temperature asymmetry supports early identification of diabetic foot ulcer risk while reducing infection and cross-contamination concerns during routine monitoring.