What research has been done on temporal artery thermometers, and how accurate are they compared to tympanic thermometers?
A. This is definitely a hot topic. The current research is primarily funded and conducted by the device manufacturer and industry. When searching the manufacturer’s Web site, one finds that the company has a medical division with several articles listed on the site. Several articles are presented, and one summary article refers to a number of studies. One pilot study was presented by Steve Baumgart, M.D and colleagues, in May 2001 at the American Pediatric Society and the Society for Pediatric Research.1 This study compared infrared thermometry scanned over the temporal artery to digital axillary thermistor in premature neonates, and concluded that infrared temporal artery scanning makes repeated temperature assessment during incubation and rewarming easy to perform and it better reflects premature babies true core temperature while being less invasive than deep rectal or esophageal temperature monitoring.1 Another study conducted at Children’s Hospital in Boston compared the temporal
Related Questions
- We currently use tympanic (or electronic predictive, or digital electronic, or glass) thermometers. Why should I consider changing to single-use thermometers?
- What research has been done on temporal artery thermometers, and how accurate are they compared to tympanic thermometers?
- What do you think is more accurate: tympanic (ear) thermometers or oral thermometers?
