Thermal Detection Systems Efficiently Screen H1N1 Patients

A new study suggests that an Infrared Thermal Detection System (ITDS) can serve as a fast and effective fever-screening tool in clinical settings.

Researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC; Omaha, NE, USA) evaluated an ITDS system in 566 patients, (age 15 days to 89 years old), in an emergency department (ED) setting during the height of the H1N1 influenza pandemic--from November 18, 2009, to January 9, 2010--to test the tool's viability in a practical clinical setting. The ITDS temperature measurements were compared with standard temperature readings obtained using routine oral or rectal temperature thermometers.


The results showed that ITDS proved to be an effective screening tool for identifying patients with a fever of 37.7 ºC or higher, across all age ranges and genders. However, while the ITDS system had a high-negative predictive value (correctly excluding most patients without fever), the system also generated a high percentage of false-positive results, measuring higher temperatures than routine temperature measurements. However, according to the researchers, if fever was not detected by the ITDS, then there was a 97% possibility that there was no fever present. The results of the study were presented at the Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections, held during March 2010 in Atlanta (GA, USA).

"The purpose of fever screening is to protect patients,” said lead author and study presenter Angela Hewlett, M.D., an assistant professor of infectious diseases at UNMC. "This technology allows clinicians to rapidly screen people for fever, so that incoming patients and visitors who may be ill can be identified quickly and reduce the danger of spreading diseases like influenza to other people in the hospital.”

For the study, the researchers used the OptoTherm (Sewickley, PA, USA) ThermoScreen ITDS, which uses a high-accuracy thermal imaging camera to measure skin temperature by detecting and quantifying the infrared (IR) energy continuously being emitted from the face. Skin temperatures above a predefined threshold are detected and displayed in bright colors on a computer screen, and verbal instructions and screening results are announced through the computer's speakers; at the same time, an audible alarm is activated to notify personnel that a temperature violation has occurred. Over 1,000 individuals can be screened each hour.

Related Links:
University of Nebraska Medical Center
OptoTherm