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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.

Sec. Neonatology

Newborn Clinical Condition Assessment Using Infrared Thermography: Correlation with the Apgar Score in a Prospective Cohort Study

Provisionally accepted
Mathilde LetouzeyMathilde Letouzey1samuel diopsamuel diop2claude elvire pédié kengoumclaude elvire pédié kengoum2anne rousseauanne rousseau3juliette Françoisjuliette François4thibaud quibelthibaud quibel4paul berveillerpaul berveiller5Noémie HotNoémie Hot4pascal boileaupascal boileau5François JouenFrançois Jouen2Imen TrabelsiImen Trabelsi6*Jean BergouniouxJean Bergounioux7
  • 1Hôpital de Poissy, St-Germain-en-Laye, France
  • 2Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, France
  • 3Hôpital de Poissy St-Germail-en-Laye, Poissy, France
  • 4Hôpital de Poissy, Poissy, France
  • 5Universite Paris-Saclay, GifsurYvette, France
  • 6École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Paris, France
  • 7assistance publique des hopitaux de france, Paris, France

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Objectives: The Apgar score remains subjective in key components despite its clinical importance. An objective method using infrared thermography could enhance neonatal assessment precision. To describe early surface thermal adaptation patterns during the first 10 minutes after birth using infrared thermography (IRT) and to benchmark these descriptive patterns against concurrently assigned Apgar scores. This feasibility study evaluates operational characteristics of IRT as a noncontact, objective adjunct to routine assessment; it does not establish prediction or clinical utility. Study Design: Prospective cohort of 223 full-term cesarean-delivered newborns at a tertiary maternity hospital (2021-2023). Whole-body IRT was captured at 1, 3, 5, and 10 minutes after birth (T1–T10). Infants were described by Apgar at 1 minute (≤7 vs ≥8).

Keywords: infrared thermography, Apgar Score, neonatal assessment, Peripheral perfusion, Newborn, thermal adaptation

Received: 28 May 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Letouzey, diop, kengoum, rousseau, François, quibel, berveiller, Hot, boileau, Jouen, Trabelsi and Bergounioux. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Imen Trabelsi

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material