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A Review of the Use of Thermal Imaging and Computer Vision for Pattern Recognition

Authors

Kaoutar Clero1, 2, Mohamed Nadour2, Said Ed-Diny1, Mohammed Achalhi1, Mouhamed Cherkaoui1, Hamd Ait Abdelali3, Sanaa El Fkihi4, Intissar Benzakour5, Said Rziki5, Hicham Tagemouati3 and François Bourzeix3, 1Morocco, 2Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research (MASCIR), Morocco, 3Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco, 4IRDA Team Rabat IT Center, ADMIR Lab, Morocco, 5R&D and Project Management, Morocco

Abstract

The use of thermal imaging and computer vision has seen a sharp increase in recent years. This paper presents the current state of the art concerning these fields. Thus, a review of research articles studying the combination of these technologies for pattern recognition is established. After presenting an overview of the topic, a bibliometric analysis is selected based on 1160 articles extracted from the Scopus database, which allows assessing the temporal evolution of the publications and the study of their most relevant sources, authors, keywords, trend topics, and publishing countries. Besides, a particular focus is given to the issue of defect detection using thermal imaging and computer vision. The related articles are analyzed and classified into their primary domains. The results confirm that combining thermal imaging with computer vision techniques has become commonly used in several fields. However, the defects detection case studies using these technologies are focused on a few application fields. Thus, more contributions are required regarding this specific issue in more innovative applications. This review will help to guide future research contributions within all fields where creative uses of infrared thermal imaging and computer vision can be developed to recognize different patterns and issues.

Keywords

Infrared thermal imaging, computer vision, bibliometric analysis, pattern recognition, defect detection