Researchers have found that temperatures in different areas of the face are associated with various chronic diseases, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which could help doctors diagnose and detect metabolic diseases.
Notably, these temperature differences are not easily perceived by physical touch, but can be identified using specific AI-derived temperature patterns that require a thermal camera and a model trained on the data. Future research on this topic may significantly help doctors detect diseases early, Science Daily reported.
“Aging is a natural process,” says Jing-Dong Jackie Han, an author of the letter from Peking University in Beijing.
The team previously used 3D facial structure to predict people’s biological age, which shows how well the body ages. They identified several key areas of the face where temperatures were significantly related to age and health, including the nose, eyes and cheeks.
The team found that the temperature of the nose drops faster than other parts of the face with age. This means that people with a warmer nose have a younger thermal age.
The team also found that people with metabolic disorders such as diabetes and fatty liver had faster thermal aging. Compared to their healthy counterparts of the same age, they tended to have higher temperatures around the eyes. In addition, people with elevated blood pressure also had higher facial temperatures.
