Hand-Held Temperature Guns the truth and why Blackbodys are important.

The Canthi Region (tear duct) is the only external area, that gives the greatest accuracy of core body temperature.

This concentration on the COVID19 by the media and politicians has proved one thing; it is making you aware of who is entering your facilities. Now it is about sickness, which by the way, has had free access every single day with the flu, which kills more people annually. You haven’t been panicking on that front!

Terrorism, domestic violence, and fired workers entering and killing employees and visitors have not gone away. However, you are still having an open-door policy in allowing anyone to enter unchallenged.

Start thinking about what you are missing and failing in your Duty of Care and substantial responsibility.

Rfusion's Fever Screening System is a skin temperature measurement system focusing on the Canthus, for mass screening of high pedestrian areas such as airports, hospitals, education facilities, train stations, factories, and other public places.

In today’s world of fast transit global travel, outbreaks of infectious disease will cross-national and international boundaries in a matter of hours. The SARS, Bird Flu and Swine Flu, H1N1, Ebola virus, and now coronavirus have affected tens of thousands of people and businesses with massive disruption to all people from all walks of life.

The miniature, discreet, and ultra-portable Skin Temperature Monitoring system provides peace of mind with high-speed sensitive temperature measurement for high volume pedestrian transit areas. The solution, based on a proprietary thermal imaging camera working in conjunction with a calibration unit for high accuracy temperature measurement. Rfusion’s Fever Screening System is a tried and tested screening system that is serving in numerous countries.

The Coronavirus news stories show security personnel using these infrared temperature devices, so let us bring you the facts.

They are great for checking your air vent temperature, the heat of the grill, but not so for taking a human temperature!

THE LASER READS THE TEMPERATURE

Just plain wrong. The laser pointer in an infrared thermometer is a guide that indicates where you're pointing the instrument. When measuring the heat coming from an A/C duct (for example), the laser helps to steady your aim and ensure that you're close to the area you're trying to measure.

AN INFRARED THERMOMETER WILL TELL YOU THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE

Another myth worth busting. An infrared thermometer is a surface temperature tool – period. If you're grilling, baking, smoking or roasting, you're going to need a penetration probe to tell you the internal temperature of the food you're cooking. An infrared will only give you the surface temperature of the food, and depending on your optical range, the temp of the surrounding grill, skillet, oven, etc.

Ideally, you would use infrared thermometers to temp the surface of hot oil, a cast-iron skillet, and a saute pan, even chocolate, and soup. However, whipping out your infrared "laser gun" to temp burgers on the grill may have you explaining to your guests why they're undercooked!

The distance-to-spot ratio (D:S) is the ratio of the distance to the object and the diameter of the temperature measurement area. The larger the ratio number is, the better the instrument's resolution and the smaller the spot size that can be measured. For instance, an IR thermometer with a 50:1 ratio will accurately measure temperatures of smaller objects than an IR thermometer with a 10:1 ratio rate. If the D:S ratio is 10:1, the measurement of an object 10 inches (25.4 cm) away will average the temperature over a 1-inch (25 mm) diameter area. A ratio of 50:1 will measure a 1-inch (25mm) diameter area that is 50 inches (127 cm) away.

When selecting an IR thermometer, consider the distance from the target to be measured and choose a model with an appropriate distance-to-spot ratio.

Advancements in transportation, coupled with the growth and movement of human populations, enable efficient transport of infectious diseases almost anywhere in the world within 24 hours. This recognition has prompted the evaluation of rapid mass screening methods to delay the importation of infection into healthcare settings, communities, and countries. A fever is a standard indicator of many infectious diseases; the rapid identification of fever is a significant component of screening efforts.

Such screening was and has been used by many countries during the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003 and the influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 outbreak.

One approach to fever screening is to ask persons if they have a fever simply. In travel settings, many countries have used a written health declaration to screen travellers arriving at international ports of entry. However, limited information exists on the accuracy of self-reported fever, which is biased by its subjective nature and reliance on travellers awareness of fever status and willingness to report.

Indeed, a clinical trial suggested that traditional thermometry is superior to self-reported fever for identifying patients with seasonal influenza. However, conventional thermometry methods are time-consuming and require close contact with potentially infectious patients.

Radiometric thermal cameras are ideal for you to conduct screening safely and efficiently of those who may potentially become infected with the flu. The body temperature of those affected is expected to be around 38~39°C, while adult human average temperature should be approximately 36°C. A thermal imaging camera can visualize such temperature difference instantly from a safe distance for you to segregate those who may have been exposed and infected.

All imaging radiometers have accuracy limitations for temperature measurement. Typical accuracy specifications for temperature measurement are ± 2% of target temperature or 2°C, whichever is greater. With this in mind, a person with an average body temperature of 37°C could be logged as high as 39°C (fever) while a person with a fever of 38°C could be reported as low as 36°C (below average temperature).

Your system must have a Black-body (a reference point)

What are the main characteristics of the radiation a Black-body emits? A black body is an idealized object that absorbs all radiation falling on it. It also re-emits all this radiation. The radiation emitted occurs at all wavelengths, but peaks at a wavelength that depends on the temperature of the black body.

All objects with a temperature above absolute zero (0 K, -273.15 oC) emit energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. A black-body is a theoretical or model body that absorbs all radiation falling on it, reflecting or transmitting none.

Infrared energy is just one part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which encompasses radiation from gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet, a thin region of visible light, infrared, terahertz waves, microwaves, and radio waves. These are all related and differentiated in the length of their wave (wavelength). All objects emit a certain amount of black body radiation as a function of their temperature.

Generally speaking, the higher an object's temperature, the more infrared radiation is emitted as black-body radiation. A special camera can detect this radiation in a way similar to the way an ordinary camera detects visible light. It works even in total darkness because the ambient light level does not matter. They are making it useful for rescue operations in smoke-filled buildings and underground.

One other potential problem is that staff must be trained adequately to take a temperature with an infrared thermometer properly.

"Is that person trained well enough to know that you have to be at a certain distance to get an accurate reading? If you are not close enough, you're not necessarily reading that person's temperature; you're reading an air temperature." Temperature screening might provide a false sense of security and even discourage people from going to the doctor if they start feeling sick because they already passed one previous testing.

The economic impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is hitting the world hard, and our already struggling NHS is having to do more with less. What are you doing to minimize the impact on your business and employees?

How would you know if someone entering your facility had the virus?

Can your business afford the downtime and negative press?

Are you providing the best possible duty of care for your employees and visitors?

Rfusion’s system has the following

Setup and Operator password levels for secure operation.

Visible thermal images displayed

Red hot colour thermal isotherm tracking.

Warning and Critical Alarm levels with Visible and customizable audible alerts.

Selectable (8) colour thermal palette bar with alarm threshold and current maximum alarm level.

Operator defined monitoring region with exclusion areas to avoid fixed thermal artefacts (radiator/A/C vent/lighting).

Unique Blackbody reference active optimisation for maximum accuracy.

Single or sequenced visible and thermal camera images saved on alarm.

Full radiometric temperature model including skin, blackbody emissivity and background temperatures.

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