A team of researchers at the University of Washington recently developed an app that has the power to take near-ubiquitous smartphones and turn them into clinical-quality thermometers. The new app is described in a recently article published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.
The ability to take your temperature and determine whether or not you or your child has a fever is an important part of self-care. Recognizing that you have a fever, and how high, can help you detect a potential illness, particularly infections caused by viruses and bacteria. When it comes to COVID-19, for example, being able to spot a spiked temperature can be an important way of managing the transmission of the disease. Being able to detect a fever early could help you decide to quarantine sooner or seek medical attention sooner. People often go to the ER or urgent care when they think they have a fever, even if they can’t confirm it. However, not everyone has access to a thermometer, especially when they are on the go. The ability to confirm you have a fever could enable to seek prompt treatment and help with the spread of many contagious pathogens.
University of Washington researchers have developed a way that may change how and when people record their temperatures.
The app, called FeverPhone, allows a smartphone to work as a thermometer without the need for installing additional hardware. The app specifically makes use of already existing technology in a smartphone: small sensors that are normally used to measure the temperature of the smartphone’s internal batteries. Once the app is activated, a user need only touch their smartphone to their head and wait 90 seconds for the app to produce a temperature reading.
According to the study, initial tests of the smartphone app have proven quite effective. The app was able to record and capture temperatures with an error reading of only .41 degrees. With that kind of accuracy, it works similar to a thermometer used in clinical settings, boosting the quality of thermometers people have access to.
Sources: Medgadget; Proceedings