Infrared thermography as a non invasive technique to assess lameness in dairy cows

Infrared thermography as a non invasive technique to assess lameness in dairy cows - AIM To verify the possibility of using thermography technique as a diagnostic tool for early detection of lameness. INTRODUCTION Thermography is a non invasive technique that may be used to remotely assess skin temperature at distance without interfere with animals behaviours. MATERIALS and METHODS Six experimental sessions were conducted on 130 dairy cows of different age and stage of lactation in the north of Italy. Animals were gathered in the waiting room before milking and after that, the practitioner made the diagnosis, checking the presence of lameness on every foot. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Correspondence between the thermographic measurements and the veterinary diagnosis was statistically verified by Proc FREQ (SAS® 9.2). Results were as follows: sensitivity 93% and specificity 38% for back limbs, sensitivity 50% and specificity 93% for the fore ones. Next steps will be to standardize the methodology and to follow some cases positive only at thermography measure, in order to monitor their evolution over time.