Application and research progress of infrared thermography in temperature measurement of livestock and poultry animals: A review

Animal body temperature is closely related to its metabolism and life activities, which can reflect the physiological and health status of animals. The body temperature of animals changes correspondingly when they undergo disease, specific physiological stages, or the external environment changes. Measuring animal body temperature enables in-depth analysis of animal health and a better understanding of the physiological changes that occur in animals. As a non-invasive measurement technology, infrared thermography (IRT) can eliminate the stress reaction of animals caused by contact temperature measurement and has been gradually applied in the research and application of animal temperature measurement. This paper summarized the current research achievements of IRT in animal temperature detection, sketched the principle and data processing methods of IRT temperature measurement, and summarized and analyzed the application cases of IRT for disease detection (mastitis, viral infection, hoof health assessment), thermoregulation under extreme temperature conditions (heat resistance, heat loss, heat stress), and estrus detection. In addition, the problems faced by IRT in the application of animal temperature detection and the future development trend were also discussed.

Automated summary

Animal body temperature is closely related to its metabolism and life activities, reflecting the physiological and health status of animals. Infrared thermography (IRT) as a non-invasive measurement technology has been gradually applied in animal temperature measurement, allowing in-depth analysis of animal health and understanding of physiological changes. This paper summarized the research achievements of IRT in animal temperature detection and discussed its application cases, problems, and future development.