1. The objective of this project is to evaluate accuracy of commercially available thermometers in markets for measuring body core temperatures. [pdf]
2. We have performed clinical studies on comparing temperature prediction by store brand digital thermometers and measurement by a high resolution thermistor bead sensor. The store brand digital thermometers constantly underestimate or overestimate the actual temperature at the measurement sites of body.
3. A tissue equivalent phantom is developed to mimic thermal environment of the axillary site using artificial muscle and skin platters. Via adjusting the power supply embedded in the phantom, one can test the performance of store brand digital thermometers for predicting either fever or normal conditions. The following figure gives the thermal equilibrium temperatures at the site measured by the thermistor bead sensor after 5 minutes and the average temperatures predicted by the Brand B thermometers when measured using different starting times. Note that the digital thermometer underestimates the actual temperature by more than 1.5C.
4. A power point presentation of this project can be found here [Powerpoint]