Mobile app takes temperature without physical contact
App acts like infrared thermometer, displays accurate reading in less than one second
As hardware technologies and software programming have become more sophisticated, there’s been a significant increase in the last year of mobile apps that act as self-diagnostic tools. The latest comes from Fraden Corporation, which recently announced that it was granted a U.S. patent for a “Wireless Communication Device with Integrated Electromagnetic Radiation Sensors” for its new Infrared Thermometer Technology with built-in module for smartphones.
Basically, the technology they developed is a new infrared sensor that gets built into smartphones to allow users the ability to measure the temperature of a person or object without applying any sort of physical contact.
Fraden Corporation has developed temperature sensor technology for smartphones.
Background on new mobile phone sensor technology
Fraden’s smartphone sensor works in conjunction with the phone’s digital camera and takes less than one second to register a reading.
The Fraden sensor requires the user to point at the face of a person or object to register a temperature reading.
A bit more specifically, the technology centers on the use of a non-contact infrared sensor that detects infrared signals which naturally emanate from all surfaces. The user simply points their phone at the face of the patient or object, and it’ll instantly record an internal temperature.
Including the sensor in today’s smartphones will not require any substantial changes to the design of the phones themselves: the entire IR thermometer is packaged into a small ceramic SMD module that contains the IR optics operating in the spectral range from 5 to 15 µm, IR sensor, signal conditioner, ADC, and the I2C serial output circuit.
For the manufacturers out there reading this article, it should be noted that the sensor can also be packaged into a TO-46 standard can with through-hole terminals. Further customization allows reduction of the camera height down to 4 mm.
Depending on volume, the total incremental component cost is between US$1.65 and $2.50.
The Fraden sensor is very small and won’t require any significant shift in design by manufacturers.
There are no protruding parts that manufacturers will need to consider. The sensor is located near the camera lens so that during temperature measurement, the camera can aid in locating the object from which the infrared signal is being detected and measured.
Other than that, the phones that include this technology will appear identical to their sensor-less counterparts.
Capabilities
The IR camera has two operating modes: medical temperature and inanimate temperature. The former makes a single snapshot measurement, while the latter measures and displays temperature continuously.
For measuring human temperature, the IR lens should be located from 0.5 to 6” from the skin. The medical temperature range is from 93 to 108°F (ISO requires a clinical accuracy of ±0.3°F).
For measuring inanimate objects, the lens can be positioned at distances from 0.5” to as far away as necessary (all that’s really needed is a surface area of the target from where the IR radiation is being collected).
Angle of view of the lens is about 15°.
Who stands to benefit from this technology?
The sensor can detect a wide range of temperature, from -22 °F to +400°F, so it can be used just about everywhere, whether it’s in the kitchen (cooking, refrigeration), bathroom (bath water, shower temperature), at school (science experiments), in the industrial sectors (automotive, chemical processing, construction), etc.
The Fraden sensor can be used for several different types of reading.
The obvious target audience, though, would be parents with small children, nurses, doctors, veterinarians, inspectors, or anyone else who might have a difficult time recording the temperature of a person, animal, or object.
“Most smartphone models differ little from one another, with only small evolutionary changes,” explains Dr. Jacob Fraden, President of Fraden Corporation, a co-inventor of the technology and expert in non-contact temperature measurements, a holder of over 50 patents and the inventor of the popular Thermoscan ear thermometer. “The vendor with breakthrough functions for real world everyday use, like reading a child’s temperature, can distance themselves from their competitors. We believe this new patent can be a significant competitive differentiator for a smartphone manufacturer.”
Outlook
Fraden’s sensor has met ISO standards and is ready for an immediate roll-out of the technology. In fact, the company has already made the sensor available for licensing to qualified companies with significant presence in the mobile phone market.
Down the road, Fraden plans to expand their technology to include thermal imaging, UV and EMF pollution exposure, and more. ■
Via: fraden.com
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