The article explores wearable devices for monitoring body temperature, emphasizing innovative solutions like iThermowall and overviews a few other topologies crucial for early illness detection.

The pandemic has shown how important it is to quickly screen and monitor people who might be getting infectious diseases. Wearable devices have become an important tool in this situation because they can help people to improve the tracking and detection of sickness.

What is the challenge in monitoring body temperature?

When checking for temperature, a non-contact infrared thermometer is a common tool to have on hand. One benefit of this thermometer is that it can quickly and easily screen for fever without touching the patient. Nevertheless, the accuracy of the handheld thermometer is affected by the user and the distance from the forehead. 

Researchers are employing a variety of methods to determine core body temperature. Different kinds of sensors are used to conduct the measurements. The downside of these fever detectors is that they require physical touch to function. 

Cameras like the FLIR Thermovision and the OptoTerm Thermoscreen could measure a human's core body temperature. Its ability to rapidly determine the temperature of numerous people is a major plus, but the video sensor system has a high price tag.

A solution to these problems is the iThermowall, a wall-mounted infrared thermometer without interaction.

iThermowall: An Innovative Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer

An operator is unnecessary for the affordable iThermowall platform thermometer used for fever screening, as shown in Fig. 1. It can be made easily with a replicable 3-D printer and a module that is conveniently accessible. When the space between the forehead and the sensor is sufficient, the hardware may automatically take a person's temperature.

Fig. 1 iThermowall thermometer Source: ELSEVIER

Key Components for Wearable Devices

The iThermowall thermometer was designed simply, making it easy to replicate using a commonly available module and 3-D printer. The electronic parts that make up the device include.

  • Microcontroller unit -Arduino Nano microcontrollers (Arduino Nano utilizes an ATmega328 microcontroller)
  • OLED display (OLED SSD1306)
  • LED- A green LED was utilized for temperatures below 38 °C, while a red LED was employed to indicate temperatures beyond 38 °C
  • Infrared thermometer sensor- MLX90614 temperature sensor. I2C connection simplifies incorporating this module sensor with an Arduino Nano
  • Infrared proximity sensor- Utilizing an infrared proximity sensor module, the distance between the forehead and the hardware was measured
  • Buzzer - When the temperature drops below 38 °C, the iThermowall activates the green LED and active buzzer for 1 second. However, when the temperature rises over 38 °C, a red LED and an active buzzer for around 5 seconds
  • Charger module TP4056
  • Step-up converter
  • Lithium-ion battery 

Advantages

Researchers will choose to adopt the iThermowall system because of the following benefits: 

  • Affordable
  • Non-contact
  • Readily accessible
  • Easy-to-assemble hardware package that includes a microcontroller, display, and sensor

Validation and Accuracy Testing of Wearable Temperature Monitoring Devices

For validation, the iThermowall measured and compared the temperatures of the user's head, forehead, ear, and wrist with the reference thermometer. Researchers used a handheld infrared thermometer as a reference.

Temperatures for the Reference and iThermowall groups were identical across all sensor locations, according to the test results. The difference was smaller than ± 0.2 °C. 

Ambient temperature, thermometer alignment, non-linearity, and background radiation are some variables that affect the iThermowall's accuracy. 

For a limited temperature range around the human body temperature, the iThermowall employed the GY-906 sensor module, which included an MLX90614 temperature sensor with an accuracy of ± 0.2 °C.

Heat Stroke Detection Wearable Device

The severe heat disease known as heat stroke, or sunstroke, is defined by a body temperature higher than 40.0 °C (104.0 °F). This illness is brought on by extended exposure to high temperatures or physical activity in hot conditions, which prevents the body from properly cooling down. Thus, it is necessary to have a wearable device that can identify a possible heat stroke. 

The primary components of heat stroke detection wearable devices are:

NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller

This project uses a NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller and an integrated ESP8266 WiFi module. It is compact and simple to integrate into a wearable gadget, which measures heartbeat rate, ambient temperature and humidity, and body temperature.

It was seen that the wearable IoT-based heat stroke detection device could accurately record physiological data while the person was standing still and while they were moving. This gadget could spot any signs of heat stroke and warn the user before the heat stroke happens.

Multifunctional IoT-Based Wristband for Health Monitoring

Researchers developed an IoT-based wristband that tracks their health problems in real-time for COVID-19-infected. The wearable IoT layer in this device is in charge of gathering two kinds of data: 

  • Location-based GPS sensor data
  • Healthcare data such as temperature, heart rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), cough count 

The proposed framework comprises the following components:

  • Dallas Temperature Sensor (DS18B20)
  • Spark Fun pulse oximeter
  • Arduino Nano BLE sense board

This device reaches its full potential to record the health signs during and after an infection. 

Summarizing the Key Points

  • Wearable devices like iThermowall and IoT-based gadgets offer accurate body temperature monitoring for early illness detection and prevention
  • Components such as MLX90614 sensor, NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller, and various sensors enable real-time health data tracking
  • Non-contact infrared thermometers and IoT-based systems provide affordable, accessible, and easy-to-assemble solutions for temperature monitoring
  • Researchers are exploring diverse sensor technologies and devices to improve the accuracy and efficiency of body temperature monitoring in various scenarios

Reference

Mata-Romero, Marcela E., Omar A. Simental-Martínez, Héctor A. Guerrero-Osuna, Luis F. Luque-Vega, Emmanuel Lopez-Neri, Gerardo Ornelas-Vargas, Rodrigo Castañeda-Miranda, Ma. del Rosario Martínez-Blanco, Jesús Antonio Nava-Pintor, and Fabián García-Vázquez. “A Low-Cost Wearable Device to Estimate Body Temperature Based on Wrist Temperature.” Sensors 24, no. 6 (March 18, 2024): 1944. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24061944

Abuzairi, Tomy, Nur Imaniati Sumantri, Ahli Irfan, and Ridho Maulana Mohamad. “Infrared Thermometer on the Wall (iThermowall): An Open Source and 3-D Print Infrared Thermometer for Fever Screening.” HardwareX 9 (April 2021): e00168.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00168

Son, Teo Wil, Dzati Athiar Ramli, and Azniza Abd Aziz. “Wearable Heat Stroke Detection System in IoT-Based Environment.” Procedia Computer Science 192 (2021): 3686–95.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2021.09.142

Al Bassam, Nizar, Shaik Asif Hussain, Ammar Al Qaraghuli, Jibreal Khan, E.P. Sumesh, and Vidhya Lavanya. “IoT Based Wearable Device to Monitor the Signs of Quarantined Remote Patients of COVID-19.” Informatics in Medicine Unlocked 24 (2021): 100588.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imu.2021.100588