As A Thermometer, You Can Use An App On Your Smartphone To Measure The Temperature

(CTN News) – People are more aware of fever signs since COVID-19. Any smartphone can be turned into a thermometer with an app created by University of Washington researchers.

Fever can be caused by a viral or bacterial infection and is generally defined as a temperature of 100.4 °F (38 °C) or higher. 98.9 degrees Fahrenheit (37.5 degrees Celsius) is considered a low-grade fever.

Thermometers, however, are not always readily available, and you will need one to check your temperature.

FeverPhone converts your smartphone into a thermometer without any additional hardware, replacing old-fashioned mercury thermometers and digital versions.

In the study, the researchers used thermistors embedded in smartphones to monitor the integrity of the device’s internal components, specifically its battery. When a thermistor is in contact with a body, it measures the change in temperature.

These are the same thermistors used in clinical thermometers.

They realized that these sensors could track heat transfer between people and their phones. Using the phone’s touchscreen to detect skin contact and thermistors to measure air temperature and heat rise when it touched a body, the researchers began experimenting.

They used a plastic bag filled with heated water to simulate a warm forehead by pressing the phone screen against the bag. In order to collect data, three phone models were used: the Google Pixel 6, the Google Pixel 3, and the Huawei P20.

A machine-learning model was trained using the data they collected to estimate body temperature by tracking how quickly the phone heated up and calculating how much heat was produced by touching the touchscreen.

Once the researchers collected enough data, they could calibrate the model to account for variations caused by phone accessories, such as screen protectors and cases.

Human subjects were used in initial testing of the app. Thirty-seven participants were recruited, and 16 had a fever. Oral thermometers were used before testing with the FeverPhone.

The researchers found that 90 seconds was the optimal amount of time for participants to press the phone’s touchscreen against their forehead.

Because it’s less susceptible to drastic temperature changes in response to ambient air temperature, the researchers selected the forehead over other body locations such as the hands, ears, and armpits.

As a result, FeverPhone’s average error was 0.41 °F (0.23 °C), well within the clinically acceptable margin of error.

As the researchers continue to fine-tune their app, they aim to make it available on an array of smartphones and smartwatches.

Joseph Breda, lead author of the study, said, “We started with smartphones because they are ubiquitous and easy to collect data from.” We are currently experimenting with smartwatches.

Due to their smaller size, watches are much more likely to experience rapid temperature changes. A Fitbit could be used to measure a fever in 10 seconds by placing it on the forehead of a user.”

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