Transform Your Smartphone into a Fever Detector with this App!
A smartphone is a versatile device that can perform almost any task. It can be used for banking, education, health tracking, and more. With a range of health and fitness apps available, users can monitor their heart rate, count steps, and log workouts. By connecting a wearable device like a fitness band or smartwatch, users can track their health parameters. Previously, a thermometer was the go-to medical equipment for measuring fever. However, a new app can now turn your smartphone into a thermometer, eliminating the need for a separate device.
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed this innovative application that revolutionizes smartphones and allows them to function as thermometers without additional equipment.
How the FeverPhone app works
The detailed findings were published in the ACM journal Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies. It explains that the thermistors embedded in smartphones are primarily designed to monitor the temperature of the device’s internal components. However, these sensors are also sensitive to nearby warm objects, which opens up possibilities for measuring the temperature of the human body and detecting fevers.
The app collects data by using the device’s touch screen and resetting the existing battery temperature sensors. A machine learning model then uses this information to estimate the body temperatures of individuals. “These features are then used in a machine learning model to infer the user’s body temperature,” the report added.
During testing on 37 patients, the FeverPhone app demonstrated a high ability to estimate patients’ body temperatures, with an average error of about 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius). This level of accuracy is within the clinically acceptable 0.5 degrees Celsius, the University of Washington report suggested.
FeverPhone App Limitations
The researchers have identified certain areas that require further research to overcome the application’s limitations. Participants with a fever of 38.6 C (101.5 F) were deliberately excluded from the study, as it was easy to diagnose such high temperatures. The app can also confuse sweaty skin with other skin contact thermometers. Furthermore, FeverPhone was only tested on three specific phone models.
