Evaluation of a Wearable Non-Invasive Thermometer for Monitoring Ear Canal Temperature during Physically Demanding (Outdoor) Work

Abstract

Aimed at preventing heat strain, health problems, and absenteeism among workers with physically demanding occupations, a continuous, accurate, non-invasive measuring system may help such workers monitor their body (core) temperature. The aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy and explore the usability of the wearable non-invasive Cosinuss° °Temp thermometer. Ear canal temperature was monitored in 49 workers in real-life working conditions. After individual correction, the results of the laboratory and field study revealed high correlations compared to ear canal infrared thermometry for hospital use. After performance of the real-life working tasks, this correlation was found to be moderate. It was also observed that the ambient environmental outdoor conditions and personal protective clothing influenced the accuracy and resulted in unrealistic ear canal temperature outliers. It was found that the Cosinuss° °Temp thermometer did not result in significant interference during work. Therefore, it was concluded that, without a correction factor, the Cosinuss° °Temp thermometer is inaccurate. Nevertheless, with a correction factor, the reliability of this wearable ear canal thermometer was confirmed at rest, but not in outdoor working conditions or while wearing a helmet or hearing protection equipment.

Continuous monitoring of body temperature for objective detection of health and safety risks in construction sites: An analysis of the accuracy and comfort of off-the-shelf wearable sensors

“…Although Cosinuss and reference ear thermometers both measure temperature from the inner ear, they use different technology in measuring body temperatures - Cosinuss makes contact inside the outer ear canal and the ear reference thermometer represents ear canal infrared thermometry [ 43 ].…”

“…Cosinuss is a real-time body temperature monitoring sensor that measures body temperature through the inner ear. This temperature screening tool can potentially be used for physically demanding work [ 42 , 43 ].…”

“…A hospital-grade digital ear thermometer (Braun Thermoscan 7 IRT6520 Thermometer) and digital axilla thermometer (Surgipack Digital Thermometer 6344, Vega Technologies, China) was used to validate the temperature readings from the wearable sensors. These devices are commercially available for hospital use, and they are regarded as a benchmark for temperature monitoring accuracy [ 43 , 45 ]. To receive the most accurate reference temperature readings from this device, all the measurements were conducted by an experienced registered nurse.…”

Ethics in Design and Implementation of Technologies for Workplace Health Promotion: A Call for Discussion

“…The project SPRINT@Work is an EU-funded interdisciplinary project aimed at developing and evaluating sensor and intervention technologies that contribute to keeping ageing workers healthy and effectively employable (45,(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56). These health-related technologies were developed and implemented by researchers and engineers from a variety of disciplines (cognitive neuroscience, information management, biomedical engineering and rehabilitation medicine, community and occupational medicine), in collaboration with companies.…”

The key to mental fatigue

“…The project SPRINT@Work is an EU-funded interdisciplinary project aimed at developing and evaluating sensor and intervention technologies that contribute to keeping ageing workers healthy and effectively employable (Bonvanie, Broekhuis, Janssen, Maeckelberghe, & Wortmann, 2020;de Jong, Bonvanie, Jolij, & Lorist, 2020;de Jong, Jolij, Pimenta, & Lorist, 2018;Roossien, Baten, van der Waard, Reneman, & Verkerke, 2021;Roossien, Heus, Reneman, & Verkerke, 2020;Roossien, Hodselmans, Heus, Reneman, & Verkerke, 2021;Roossien, Krops, Wempe, Verkerke, & Reneman, 2021;Roossien et al, 2017). These health-…”