No LASER please -- MEDICA - World Forum for Medicine



No LASER please

wrong use of laser thermometers

Consulting the sites talking about the Ebola virus, we have noted that industrial thermometers are often used to screen the body temperature.
The main problem is that these thermometers uses the LASER technology to try to indicate the point where temperature is taking (while they cannot give any idea about the correct distance).ebola virus non contact thermometer
LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

LASER is a source of high-intensity optical radiation with several possible colors, most of the times green or red. The laser beams are special light sources. Its waves do not propagate randomly in all directions, but travelling in thin and parallel bundles.
They are successfully used in medical and in other fields of technology (surgery, cutting high strength materials ..) but if not properly used, they could be really dangerous. Most of the no touch thermometers that we can often see used in many African airports, with the purpose to try to detect people with Ebola virus, uses LASERS. This kind of thermometers is recognizable by the fact that the light is a thin beam and does not lose brightness with distance.
The use of these thermometers on the forehead is dangerous, because should the laser mistakenly get into the eyes, it can cause very serious damage: it may lead to detachment of the retina even in the case of very short exposures.
The following video it shows what a LASER can cause:

Another problem of the laser non contact thermometers is that they are not clinical thermometers (they can not be authorized for use on human beings as medical devices, because they are not in compliance with the international directives and regulations on medical devices). This means that they are not clinically tested, and they are not able to provide accurate results. Specifically, these no touch thermometers are not able to adjust the temperature to the reaction of the forehead to the environment. The result is that the temperature given is very low (as you can see in the pictures above, around 94/94.5 °F or 34 °C), so that they may fail in detecting passengers with fever.

A further problem is that when the users know that the laser beams may be dangerous, they take the temperature on the passengers’ arms or on hands. We appreciate that these users take care of the eyes of the passengers, but nonetheless it is necessary to inform them that arms and hands’ temperature is not representative of the actual body temperature, as these areas are greatly influenced by the body's circulation and other factors. Just think when we shake people hands: someone has cold hands and someone else has warm hands, but all of them are in good health.

Thermofocus® family - the first non contact thermometer in the world - and Visiofocus® family - the only thermometers that project the temperature value, indicate the correct point and the correct reading distance thanks to an exclusive and patented optical aiming systems. Hence they cannot be copied. This aiming system DOES NOT USE laser lights, but simple and harmless LED. Indeed, moving the devices just a few centimeters away from the correct distance, the lights of Thermofocus and Visiofocus lose power and are no longer visible.

Thanks to the safety of their LEDs, in some case it is possible to use both Thermofocus and VisioFocus on the eyelid and even in the open eyes.

This method of body temperature detection, accurate and safe, is the unique method for detecting the body temperature to women who wear the burqa.

Thanks to their patented aiming systems, Thermofocus® and Visiofocus® are the only non contact thermometers in the world always able to guarantee not only an absolute hygiene, but also the correct distance and the correct point to take a precise, instantaneous, safe and repeatable measurement.

Using the “face” buttons both in Thermofocus and in VisioFocus, the devices automatically adjust the device’s temperature to the room temperature.
Finally, both VisioFocus and Thermofocus are equipped with the Automatic Quick Calibration System (AQCS) and with the Manual Quick Calibration System (MQCS). These systems allow the user to quickly stabilize the device to the room temperature, a procedure which becomes essential when the device is moved between rooms with different temperatures and when handled for a long time (for example when it is necessary to take many consecutive measurements in a short time).