How Effective & Accurate is a Thermal Gun in Detecting Body Temperature?
It’s been more than a year since COVID-19 turned our world upside down, and we are still trying to deal with the aftermath. Wherever you go, strict COVID screening is in place to curb the virus’s growth. Now, you must have come across thermal guns during these screenings that measure the body’s temperature and lets you know if you are in the all-clear zone. These guns don’t come in contact with your skin, but of course, you cannot put a thermometer in everyone’s mouth, as that’s highly impractical and, quite frankly, disgusting. These thermal guns are everywhere. Be it apartments, grocery stores, airports, anywhere you go, thermal guns are there to screen you and make sure your body temperature isn’t abnormal. So, are these thermal guns effective and accurate? Let’s find out.
What is a thermal gun and how does it work?
Thermal guns, also known as infrared thermometers, and are used to measure body temperature without coming in contact with the patient’s body. Like visible light, it is a possibility to reflect, absorb, or focus infrared light. The thermal guns or infrared thermometers use a lens to focus on the infrared light that’s being emitted from an object. The thermophile then detects the emitted light. So, when the infrared light falls on the thermophile, it is converted into heat, and voltage output is produced. This output is then used to see the temperature. Now, everything emits infrared energy; however, some do it more efficiently than others.
Emissivity is a measure of this efficiency, and it can be expressed as 0 to 1. Even the simplest thermal thermometers are designed to show accurate results, but that cannot always be the case because of how they are used. The basic model can tell the temperature when pointed to the forehead from approximately 3 cm away.
Are thermal guns accurate?
Now, if we were to come up with an analogy, we can say thermal gun accuracy is quite similar to online dating. You cannot completely rely on whatever you see on the screen. It’s not yet clear how these devices have been tested to see if they are accurate. Nevertheless, even if they are tested in the laboratory, the real world scenario can be entirely different when measuring forehead temperature.
These devices’ accuracy lies in some factors, such as how far you are from the device, where it is pointed, and how long they hold it for. Also, if the visitor screening is to detect the Coronavirus, only checking the body temperature will not do the trick, sadly. So, why does one get contact fever? When the immune system is invaded, it releases chemicals to tackle them, and here, the body heat goes up. However, what if your body hasn’t yet reacted to the invaders? Or maybe you are taking medications to bring the temperature down. Sometimes, the body temperature may rise due to other factors, such as alcohol withdrawal, rheumatoid arthritis, and more.
So, it is possible that thermal screening cannot accurately detect if you are infected and can sometimes act as a false alarm. Now, you are probably thinking that it doesn’t sound very great. Then why are these devices in such high demand? Because there is no other way to do COVID screening for a large crowd. Of course, having a doctor present who does a physical on everyone sounds amazing, but again, it is highly impractical. Imagine reaching a restaurant hours early just to get a physical before you enter? Not possible!
Therefore, this is where the beauty of a product like SENS lies. It is highly accurate and can let you know if you are running a fever. According to a research, it is seen that when used correctly, the thermal scanners can show the right temperature. Paediatricians too, make use of no-contact thermometers as it is done easily without irritating the kid. They can show you the body temperature when pointed in the right direction with the right distance. One of the best ways to ensure you get an accurate reading is first to realise the correct way to use a thermal scanner. SENS is precise, possesses a super-efficient battery, can be easily integrated and is highly scalable. When there is a large crowd, the security in charge isn’t going to spend a lot of time on one person. Sometimes, the reading gets so inaccurate that it can be quite scary. However, that’s when SENS comes to your rescue while it uses a patented AI algorithm and offers integrated data analytics.
The bottom line is that it is important to follow all the scanner rules while using it to ensure accurate readings. However, it should not be the final verdict. If the scanner shows that your temperature is high, double-check it or use a normal thermometer, and remember, just because the temperature is high doesn’t mean you have the virus. But, at least you are made aware of the symptoms at the right time. That’s all that is important at this stage.
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