Quantification of thermal sensory perception in leprosy (a preliminary report).

An instrument called 'Thermosense' was designed and developed for quantitative assessment of thermal sensory perception. Preliminary testing on 20 healthy adult males showed that 39 degrees C was perceived as hot in 19 individuals on the forearm and arm. The perception on the finger tips was less than forearms. In 5 cases of leprosy (BT 4, TT 1) testing showed detectable difference in thermal perception within the lesion, in the skin, in the vicinity of the lesion and the uninvolved skin.