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Are infrared thermometers accurate?

Source: Time:2020-02-14 22:17:36 views:

The new coronavirus epidemic has rapidly increased the market demand for temperature measurement products. Infrared thermometers, like masks, have become the key medical products for epidemic prevention and disaster prevention. Infrared thermometers, common market names include ear thermometers, forehead thermometers, etc., are a common type II medical device.

With the sharp increase in production and the increase in applications, many people have reported on the Internet that the thermometer used in some places is inaccurate. What is the reason? How to solve this problem? This article will analyze the factors that affect the accuracy of the infrared thermometer from the perspective of product design.

Product Categories 

Body temperature measurement is divided into contact type and non-contact type. The contact type is mainly based on the principle of negative temperature coefficient thermistor (NTC: negative temperature coefficient), and the non-contact type is mainly based on the infrared principle (IR: Infrared):


Table 1: Product classification

Infrared thermometer industry chain



Figure 1: Distribution of the number of infrared temperature detectors in China

Chinese infrared temperature measurement equipment manufacturers are mainly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, which also coincides with the geographical distribution of the entire medical device industry. The upstream and downstream related industrial chains of infrared temperature measurement equipment are shown below:


Figure 2: Industrial temperature chart of infrared temperature measuring equipment

From the perspective of upstream supply chain management, there are three most important factors affecting the accuracy of infrared temperature measurement equipment: infrared sensor performance, optical path system, and calibration system.

This article mainly discusses the infrared detector (ear thermometer, forehead thermometer) based on the principle of thermopile. For focal plane technology, please refer to the paper "Development of Infrared Focal Plane Detector Array Specifications" by Wang Yifeng and Huang Jiangping from Kunming Institute of Physics.

Infrared sensor performance

The following takes the common Amphenol Sensor (ASTG) company ZTP-148SR infrared thermopile sensor as an example to analyze the impact of sensor performance on temperature measurement accuracy. The structure of ZTP-148SR infrared thermopile sensor is shown below


Figure 3: Infrared sensor products and structure diagram

The following table is the parameter table of ZTP-148SR. There are many technical terms in it. You can find some related textbooks for a systematic study, such as "Infrared Physics and Technology" by the Electronic Industry Press. Of course, you can also leave a message to the editor in the background for a more detailed discussion. Here, I will discuss with you a main parameter --- "noise voltage".


Table 2: ZTP-148SR parameter chart

The so-called noise voltage is the thermal noise amplitude of the sensor itself. If the infrared signal received is smaller than the noise voltage, the detector cannot distinguish between noise and signal. A good infrared sensor must be able to distinguish at least the infrared signal corresponding to a temperature difference of 0.03 degrees.

In addition, there is another hidden parameter that needs to be considered, which is the long-term stability of the sensor. Long-term stability cannot be tested at the factory, so many manufacturers simulate using aging models, and Amphenol Sensors (AST), as an old-fashioned infrared sensor manufacturer, uses the direct method for evaluation. The following figure is a batch of After testing the sensors for 5 years (2013 ~ 2018), it can be seen that the average sensitivity drift is below 1%.


Figure 4: Long-term stability data sheet of infrared sensor

Light path system


Figure 5: Optical path system diagram

As shown in the figure, S is the temperature sensing area, D is the distance from the temperature measuring gun to the measured object; S is the diameter of the measured object (high temperature area).
Case 1 (D1: S1), the diameter of the measured object is larger than the diameter of the field of view of the thermometer, and the temperature of the measured object can be accurately obtained, which is the best temperature measurement method.
Case 2 (D2: S2), the diameter of the measured object is equal to the diameter of the field of view of the thermometer. In theory, the temperature of the measured object can be accurately obtained, but it is likely to be disturbed and is not recommended.
Case 3 (D3: S3), the diameter of the measured object is smaller than the diameter of the field of view of the thermometer, and it is difficult to accurately obtain the temperature of the measured object due to the influence of the background or surrounding object temperature.
The higher the DS ratio of the thermometer, the smaller the field of view of the thermometer, and the smaller the target object that can be accurately captured.

Calibration system

The infrared human body temperature measurement system has higher accuracy requirements (0.2 degrees) than the general industrial temperature measurement (1 to 2 degrees), so calibration before leaving the factory is a very important link. The following figure is a typical infrared human body temperature measurement system. It can be seen from the figure that a set of high-precision calibration equipment is very important, and it is necessary to regularly go to the National Metrology and Testing Center to check and calibrate.


Figure 6: Calibration system

Medical equipment certification

Finally, I need to remind you that human body temperature measurement equipment belongs to the second-class medical equipment. Before sales, you need to obtain the registration certificate of the State Food and Drug Administration. Now major inspection agencies are working overtime to guide companies to standardize production processes. While improving output, we must also ensure quality.

The following is the relevant report of the Hohhot Evening News on February 3, 2020. It can also help you understand the importance the country attaches to the accuracy of infrared temperature measurement equipment from another aspect (the following content is taken from the Hohhot Evening News).

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