Abstract
Infrared tympanic thermometers (ITTs) are easy to use and have a quick response time. They are widely used for temperature measurement of the human body. The accuracy and uncertainty of measurement is the importance performance indicator for these meters. The performance of two infrared tympanic thermometers, Braun THT-3020 and OMRON MC-510, were evaluated in this study. The cell of a temperature calibrator was modified to serve as the standard temperature of the blackbody. The errors of measurement for the two meters were reduced by the calibration equation. The predictive values could meet the requirements of the ASTM standard. The sources of uncertainty include the standard deviations of replication at fixed temperature or the predicted values of calibration equation, reference standard values and resolution. The uncertainty analysis shows that the uncertainty of calibration equation is the main source for combined uncertainty. Ambient temperature did not have the significant effects on the measured performance. The calibration equations could improve the accuracy of ITTs. However, these equations did not improve the uncertainty of ITTs.
Highlights
Body temperature is an indication to express the health condition or pathological state.Measurement of body temperature has become an essentially diagnostic method for medical treatment.There are two traditional methods to measure the body temperature
The results indicated that the standard temperatures (P = 0.9355 > 0.05) and the ambient temperatures (P = 0.2274 0.05) did not have the significant effects on the standard deviation of IRT-3020 measurements
This study evaluated the accuracy and uncertainty for two types of infrared tympanic thermometers
Summary
Measurement of body temperature has become an essentially diagnostic method for medical treatment. There are two traditional methods to measure the body temperature. The first type is the glass mercury thermometer. This thermometer is inexpensive and easy to use. The second type is the electronic digital thermometer. Its sensing element is made of a thermistor or resistance detector. This meter can measure the temperature within several seconds. The sensing elements of digital thermometer still need to have contact with the human body. Several problems exist in the clinical operation. The patient reaction, such as children or infant, could affect the measurement of these contact thermometers
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