Wearable smart thermometers have two notable advantages over conventional body temperature measurement devices: continuous tracking and noninvasiveness. Why disturb someone who doesn’t feel well — babies and children especially but really anyone — by walking into the room to take their temperature on a timed schedule? Fixed and random schedules for one-time readings aren’t certain to catch a fever spike or the minute a fever breaks. We’ve written about wearable remote thermometers before, including the Fever Smart wearable and Raiing’s iThermonitor.
iWeeCare recently announced that it received both European CE and Taiwan’s TFDA approval for it Temp Pal wearable which the company claims is “the world’s smallest smart thermometer.” The Temp Pal smart thermometer patch is about 1 inch square, and just over an eighth of an inch thick. It weighs about one-tenth of an ounce: half the weight of a sheet of paper. Made from a medical-grade plastic, the Temp Pal is stuck to the skin below the armpit under with a breathable hypoallergenic 3M adhesive medical tape.
The battery-operated Temp Pal connects via Bluetooth to an iOS or Android mobile device running an app that monitors the data and sends it on to the cloud for storage. When the temperature crosses user-configurable high and low levels, the app sends an alert to caregivers. The battery fully charges in 2.5 hours and runs from 36 to 48 hours. Lab tests demonstrate that it is accurate to less than 0.1 degree Fahrenheit (0.05 Celsius); the Temp Pal is approved for applications requiring clinical-grade measurement.
With CE and TFDA approval, iWeeCare expects the Temp Pal will be used in hospitals and sold directly to consumers in Europe and Asia.
