The Coronavirus has placed an incredible stress on healthcare, with public venues becoming areas of high risk. Locations such as shopping malls, post offices, distribution centres and airports are all having to operate while minimising risk as far as possible. Social distancing and higher hygiene standards are typical practices adopted, but what other strategies and solutions can keep people safe in large areas?
Many organisations are turning to technology to assist with keeping staff and visitors safe. Thermal imaging cameras are increasingly being deployed at international airports to screen passengers for signs of COVID-19 infection. First used during the 2003 SARS crisis and later the 2009 bird flu epidemic, thermal cameras detect signs of abnormal temperature which may indicate someone has a fever.
The WHO (World Health Organisation) specifically recommended temperature screening as a measure to be adopted before embarkation when repatriating foreign nationals from China in the early days of the pandemic:
“Exit screening, for example temperature measurement and a questionnaire, should be conducted before departure for the early detection of symptoms. Screening results should be shared with the receiving country.”
Today, developments in thermal imaging technology have created a much more intelligent, accurate and efficient pre-screening solution. Thermal Intelligence no longer relies on cameras alone but uses advanced analytics to identify people presenting risk. It combines robust hardware with machine learning to gain a high level of accuracy, able to detect changes in skin temperature as slight as 0.01 degrees celsius.
Thermal image analysis process
So how does it work? Understanding key metrics around temperature can help determine infection. Fever is a common symptom of a number of viruses, including COVID-19. With normal skin temperature ranging from 32-35 degrees celsius, elevated skin temperature may be a cause for concern.
Thermal Intelligence Technology first needs to carry out body and facial analysis to identify a distinct individual. This means determining each person’s head and identifying the skin on the region of the face, automatically removing beards, hats, glasses and other obstructions from facial analysis. If a person is holding a hot cup of coffee, for example, this is detected and the reading will be unaffected. The system can typically detect multiple people at once, in real-time.
Then there are multiple analysis steps, both direct and relative. This includes multiple temperature sampling, relative analysis and adjustment for the environment, since ambient temperature also influences skin temperature.
This data is captured and transmitted in real-time to a cloud platform for reporting and analysis. An alert is then immediately generated if someone with an elevated temperature profile is identified.
Advantages of thermal intelligence
Thermal Intelligence brings a wide range of benefits, helping organisations speed up their ability to protect workers. For Asset Managers it creates a safer environment for residents by minimising a visitor or employee entering a facility with an infection.
It also enables an organisation to monitor staff health and minimise downtime by providing a proactive approach for the early detection of infection. As a contact-free method of scanning, it also limits risk to reception staff.
Any Thermal Intelligence solution requires carefully considered processes and policies including approval across the organisation and full communications to staff and the wider public. Who will monitor the screening, and what special training should they be given? The question of what to do with visitors detected has having abnormal temperatures also arises. Will they be asked to leave, or offered the option of undergoing further clinical screening? If the latter, then a special facility may need to be set up for this.
As a final consideration, the data collected must also be handled according to relevant privacy legislation, such as the EU GDPR. A solution that ensures anonymity will provide easier compliance.