Establishing a Thermal Imaging Technology (IRT) Based System for Evaluating Rat Erectile Function

INTRODUCTION: Measurement of intra-cavernous pressure (ICP) is an internationally recognized method to evaluate erectile function of animals, however, this process is invasive, destructive, and cannot be repeated, leading to a daunting challenge for monitoring the changes in erectile function throughout the whole treatment duration. AIM: To verify whether infrared ray thermography technology based system could be a good substitution of ICP for evaluating rat erectile function. METHODS: A novel thermal image-based method, infrared ray thermography technology (IRT) was employed to monitor erectile function in erectile dysfunction (ED) rats. To detect the sensitivity and specificity of this new technology, 4 ED rat models (Diabetic, nerve-injury, vascular-injury and aged ED models) were established and subjected to both ICP and IRT test. OUTCOMES: Statistical comparisons were done to test the effectiveness of this new way for detecting and dynamically monitoring erectile function. RESULTS: Based on the data curves obtained from ICP and IRT, the IRT showed a similar trend (including peak value, climbing speed) as that of ICP. IRT is considered as a precise way to monitor the real-time changes of erectile function in all ED rat models. The AUC of peak temperature detected by IRT in DMED, aged ED, vascular-injury ED, the nerve-injury ED and total ED rat models were 0.9811,0.9836,0.9893,0.9989 and 0.9882, respectively. Meanwhile, the AUC of temperature climbing rate were 0.6486,0.8357,0.9184,0.8675and 0.8168.Also,it is a non-invasive process of dynamically monitoring erectile function of a same rat at different time points (before and after drug intervention). The data showed that the real-time recovery by tadalafil was obtained by IRT methods even after treatment for only 2 weeks in the diabetic ED (DMED) rat model. CONCLUSION: A novel noninvasive method for monitoring erectile function in rat ED models was established, and can replace or supplement ICP test. Liu S, Zhao Z, Wang Z et al. Establishing a Thermal Imaging Technology (IRT) Based System for Evaluating Rat Erectile Function. Sex Med 2022;10:100475.