Development of an Infrared Thermometer with SMS Feedback

Abstract

The non-contact infrared thermometer is an essential medical device in hospitals for measuring a patient’s surface temperature while preventing the transmission of infection from one person to another. While taking such measurements, it is crucial for physicians to have the values sent to their mobile phones for reference purposes. The aim of this study was to develop an infrared thermometer with Short Message Service (SMS) feedback. The thermometer was built using an infrared sensor for contactless temperature measurement, a microcontroller for data processing, a liquid crystal display for user interface, and a GSM module to enable the transmission of SMS text alerts. The performance of the prototype was tested by comparing temperature readings against a commercially available certified infrared thermometer across 20 adult subjects in a controlled setting. The results showed strong correlation (R=0.976) between the readings from the developed thermometer and reference device, demonstrating comparable clinical accuracy in detecting temperature fluctuations. However, a small fixed bias of 0.2- 0.4°C was observed in the prototype readings due to calibration differences. Overall, this study successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept infrared thermometer integrating contactless sensing and wireless transmission of temperature data via SMS. The prototype achieved accuracy comparable to commercial thermometers, indicating feasibility of creating a low-cost, mobile-connected infrared thermometer using this approach.

Keywords

• Infrared sensor
• Infrared thermometer
• Surface temperature measurement