Indicative fever screening during an infectious disease epidemic

An important indicator in the early detection of already infected persons is an elevated body temperature, indicative of a fever. Therefore, at the time of a rampant virus epidemic, contact-free fever screenings are performed in many places to quickly and reliably identify people with elevated body temperatures in large groups of people. To enable this contact-free scanning, Trotec offers various measuring devices which can be used in different situations. For example, the XC300 thermal imaging camera or the XC600 thermal imaging camera work to identify potentially ill people, even in large crowds. Professional thermal imaging cameras do, however, also require a corresponding willingness to invest, which is easy to guarantee for daily use at airports, but is often not the case for temporary use at a workplace or for an event area.

Infrared thermometer - the effective alternative for temporary measuring

The handy industrial pyrometer from Trotec is another method of contact-free high temperature measurement. Especially in light of the fact that in times of crisis, contact-free infrared thermometers for human-diagnostic purposes are often very difficult to get hold of or are only available at relatively high prices. Additionally, industrial thermometers usually have a much larger measuring range, which makes them an all-round useful tool for work and everyday life, even if they are not used for human temperature screening.

Quick measuring results in times of crisis

Since fever screening during times of crisis is primarily used for the early detection of suspected cases with an increased risk of infection, and the proper medical assessment of the so-called core body temperature takes a back seat, infrared thermometers from Trotec can also be used for prevention purposes.

Measuring devices like the BP21 Infrared thermometer and the BP25 Pyrometer use an almost identical measuring method to medically approved infrared thermometers and deliver comparable, precise results. Infrared thermometers only actually display the temperature of the surface measured without corresponding correction factors, e.g. the forehead surface, but not the core body temperature, as is the case with devices offered especially for measuring fevers. These work with special calculation algorithms and in a limited temperature measuring range of slightly more than the maximum body temperature, which makes them unsuitable for use outside this measuring range (approx. 34 - 42°C).

The contact-free temperature screening using an infrared thermometer is normally done on the forehead. However, the forehead temperature is subject to fluctuations and depends, among other things, on age, body size, environmental conditions and the current form of activity of the person being measured. If, for example, you sweat after physical exertion, the evaporative cooling falsifies the result more than if you do not sweat. If one comes from a cold environment into a warm one, the forehead will be cooler than normal for a while. This difference can be several degrees Celsius. The core body temperature, on the other hand, does not change but remains almost constant. Even a lighter skin tone can produce different measurement results as opposed to tanned skin.

Therefore, there is no simple calculation or factor that can be used to easily convert the measured surface temperature, known as the body shell temperature, to the core body temperature.

Despite this difference in determining the measured values, industrial pyrometers can also be used to draw comprehensible conclusions about the body's core temperature, taking some points into account.

No matter whether in a security area, workplace, private area or at an admission point: Before an industrial pyrometer is used, consistent reference measurements must be taken using a conventional fever thermometer.

Whichever of the following two reference measurement methods you choose, please always note that each measurement must be carried out on a specific device and cannot be transferred across the board from one device to all devices, since each device has its own measurement errors and measurement uncertainties.