Calibrate Infrared Tympanic Thermometers, ITTs

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• 36.3°C
• New Solution!
• NPL Developed

New Calibration Solution for the calibration Tympanic Thermometers

The use of Infrared Tympanic Thermometers (ITT's) is replacing more traditional thermometry such as mercury-in-glass. Besides obvious health concerns over the use of mercury the increase in the use of tympanic thermometers is related to their speed and relatively non-invasive method of operation. The calibration and testing of such devices is described in a number of international standards. The blackbody sources described in these standards are impractical for validation purposes in the environment within which ITT's are used.

Moreover several studies have thrown doubt on the accuracy of ITTs in use. With these factors in mind the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have developed a portable fixed point blackbody source for tympanic thermometers offering a rapid way of validating the performance and have applied for a patent. Isotech have obtained a licence from NPL to commercialise the cell. The cell creates a fixed temperature of 97.3°F / 36.3°C - the repeatability is better than 0.02°C.