Infrared tympanic thermometry

Tympanic versus rectal thermometry in pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE To assess the accuracy of the tympanic membrane thermometer for use with pregnant women. DESIGN Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING A major medical center in the midwestern United States. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-three hospitalized, afebrile pregnant women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Tympanic membrane thermometers and glass mercury thermometers were used to measure body temperatu...

Introduction to Infrared Thermometry

Principles of Infrared Thermometry

THEORY AND FUNDAMENTALS Temperature measurement can be divided into two categories: contact and noncontact. Contact thermocouples, RTDs, and thermometers are the most prevalent in temperature measurement applications. They must contact the target as they measure their own temperature and they are relatively slow responding, but they are inexpensive. Noncontact temperature sensors measure IR ene...

An evaluation of tympanic thermometry in a paediatric emergency department.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The consequences of missing fever in children can be grave. Body temperature is commonly recorded at the axilla but accuracy is a problem. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of a tympanic thermometer in the paediatric emergency setting. METHOD In a total of 106 infants, the body temperature was measured in the daytime with an infrared tympanic thermometer, and...

Cutaneous Infrared Thermometry for Detecting Febrile Patients

We assessed the accuracy of cutaneous infrared thermometry, which measures temperature on the forehead, for detecting patients with fever in patients admitted to an emergency department. Although negative predictive value was excellent (0.99), positive predictive value was low (0.10). Therefore, we question mass detection of febrile patients by using this method.