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We all measure our body temperature regularly using a thermometer. But it can spread disease from an ill person to the health, especially if the condition is contagious because the healthy person is in direct contact with the diseased while checking their body temperature. So the best way of body temperature measurement is through a thermal temperature scanner. This non- contact thermometer allows checking a person’s body temperature with minimal or no contact with them. The lack of communication makes sure that the disinfection between patients and the tester is negligent. It also prevents the spread of disease from the thermometers. It allows faster and easier screening of a large number of patients.

Types of non- contact thermometers:

There are some best non- contact thermometers available in the market, some of which are non- contact infrared thermometers, tympanic thermometers, and thermal scanners. Non- contact infrared temperature measures the temperature on the forehead or temple while keeping it 3 to 15 cm away from the patient. Tympanic thermometers measure the heat around the tympanic membrane and within the ear canal.

Handheld thermal scanners can measure a person’s temperature from a larger distance than the others. It is a good choice for use in situations of mass screening.

Applications of thermal scanner:

Thermal scanners are used for inspection in various buildings and industries. Further, it is also in demand to monitor the structural being of buildings and equipment.

The main application of a thermal scanner is to detect the body temperature of the subject without any contact. With the sudden outburst of the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide, the thermal screening of millions of people has been made possible only through the thermal scanner. Covid-19 being an extremely infectious disease, it is necessary to screen the patients from a farther distance. It can be done best by a thermal scanner. These scans identify potential patients and prevent them from entering crowded places. Many residential houses have also placed these scanners for keeping a check on visitors.

The thermal scanners were installed outside airports and historical monuments after the outbreak of SARS to detect any fever among the persons, which can lead to infection. Optimal cut- off temperature to determine fever is different in various devices.

Checking every passenger’s body temperature outside an airport with only a thermometer can be a terror. Thermal cameras can be the most useful here as it can scan large crowds to spot people with higher temperatures than others. It helps the authorities in segregating them from the rest for further screening.

The thermal scanner has played a vital role during the outbreak of pandemic previously SARS and now Covid-19. The diseases being extremely infectious need quick detection, which is possible only through a strong and accurate temperature scanner.

The thermal scanner was originally developed during the Korean war for use in the military. But now it has migrated into various other fields and has proved to be quite useful. It is used by firefighters to see through smoke, which helps them in finding stranded people and localize hotspots of fires. It is also used by law enforcement for surveillance activities, for locating and seizing suspects, investigating crime, and during the search and rescue operations. To locate overheating joints and parts, Power line Maintenance takes the help of a thermal temperature scanner to eliminate potential failures.

Building construction technician can see heat leaks when the thermal insulation becomes damaged, thus improving the efficiencies of the insulator. Home inspectors use it for monitoring fever in humans and other warm-blooded animals. Thermal scanners can also work in maritime navigation as it can capture a clear view of other vessels and people in the water even at night. The boat engines or a body will emit more heat in contrast to the water. It also helps the officers in drug bust as the presence of grow- lights which are used for illegal purposes in a building can be easily spotted. It can detect buildings with a suspiciously high temperature, which indicates some illegal activities.

It can also be used in the homes for activities like glazing, analyzing the heater performance, or for scanning which circuits are consuming the most power.

The correct way of using thermal scanners:

The correct way to use these non- contact thermal scanners is to keep the patient at a distance of about 1-3 cm from the scanner. If the subject is placed beyond the mentioned distance, the air temperature will affect the readings of the scanner. It would provide a wrong reading, and the assessors and the subject will be given a false sense of comfort.

Many people use infrared thermometers, which can be harmful to the body. The infrared thermometers are used in the coal mines and hence not recommended for the human body.

Working of a thermal scanner:

Thermal scanners can convert heat generated by objects using its heat sensor into the light. Then it creates a 2D image that shows different temperature levels of the body. It differs from the regular camera in the sense that the regular ones can only detect light reflected by the objects and not the heat. While screening a person, the computer screen displays the image of them, highlighting the hotter objects with a different color palette than the rest.

These thermal cameras can identify abnormal body temperature. These scanners are available with different pixel cameras, and the higher resolution camera scans the more detailed image of the person. The images help in decision making like whether to send the person for immediate diagnosis, or it needs further reports. Thermal imaging cameras ease the measurements of temperature, and instead of getting numerous temperature records, you will get a picture showing the different temperature levels of a surface.

The introduction of a thermal temperature scanner has brought a great revolution in the world. There are many applications of the thermal scanner in many different fields. In the present case of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is irreplaceable with no device better for measuring body temperature from the farthest distance than it.