search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
Renewing the oldest vital sign


Temporal Artery Thermometer validated by more than 70 published clinical studies


BY FRANCESCO POMPEI, PH.D.


mometer 500 years ago. Carl Wunderlich, ‘Father of Clinical Thermometry,’proposed 98.6°F (37°C) as the mean normal temperature 140 years ago. Until very recently we have been taking patients’ temperatures more or less the same way for more than 100 years, circa 10 billion measure- ments per year worldwide (approximately half in the US). Can we improve on what we have been doing for thousands of years and countless bil- lions of times? Emphatically yes.


F


Today’s patient expectations Importantly, today there is a much higher


patient expectation of non-invasiveness. After all, the 10 billion temperatures mean a similar number of probe insertions into a body cavity, causing discomfort and unnecessary indigni- ty, as well as some risk of harm. Patients un- dergoing cancer treatment are grateful for a reprieve from things that hurt, when their temperature is taken with the latest non-inva- sive methods. It is not uncommon today for a parent to refuse to permit a rectal thermome- ter to be used on their child. Non-invasiveness is unachievable if the vital


sign lacks the necessary clinical accuracy. The sci- entific and engineering challenge is to accurately measure the temperature inside, from the outside. Frommedical sciencewe have learnedthat certain external locations have useful properties for as- certaining internal temperature.The ear, for exam- ple, has a 50-year history of investigation for thermometry, and in the last 20 years devices de- veloped on this principle have been widely used. Although perhaps less invasive than older meth- ods, inserting a probe into an ear is not what pa- tients consider non-invasive. Further, there are accuracyproblems,particularlywithsmallchildren.


Back to the future As inventor of much of the ear thermometer technology in use, Exergen was asked by


Exergen Corporation 400 Pleasant Street Watertown, MA 02472


Dr. Francesco Pompei is founder and CEO of Exergen Corporation, and holds nearly 100 patents in non-invasive thermometry for medical and industrial applications. Earning BS and MS degrees from MIT, and SM and PhD degrees from Harvard, Pompei also holds an appointment as Research Scholar in the Department of Physics at Harvard in cancer research.


physicians to reconsider non-invasive ther- mometry, since ear thermometerswere not an acceptable solution to the patients’ require- ment for non-invasiveness and the clinicians’ requirement for accuracy.Within this context we re-examined the medical science of fever assessment, going back not 50 years, but 5000 years, to the hand on the forehead. Although never precise enough for clinical


accuracy, laying a hand on the forehead provid- ed useful fever indications under certain condi- tions, and was safe, gentle and a reassuring caress for the patient. Preserving these desir-


ever was known as a vital sign to an- cient Egyptians at least5000years ago, using the hand as measuring instru- ment. Galileo invented the first ther-


able attributes while making the measurement robust and reliably accurate for clinical use for all ages was the challenge. Our mathematical models indicated we needed to find an easily accessible external skin surface with high and consistent perfusion. We found this property at the superficial temporal artery, where it tra- verses the forehead. A measurement modali- ty was developed based on scanning the temperature of the skin over the temporal artery, and with proprietary algorithms we could then accurately compute the internal core temperature, for all ages, under essen- tially all clinical conditions, as validated by


more than 70 published clinical studies. In the past ten years Temporal Artery


Thermometry has become widely accepted and is resp0nsible for about 2 billion tem- peratures per year by medical professionals in the US, a very good start in reducing the number of probe insertions into body cavities and improving the clinical experience for both patients and clinicians. Nearly ten million consumers have home versions for their per- sonal use.


Future with zero cost and zero


waste An unexpected benefit of Temporal Artery


Thermometry is that without insertion into a body cavity there is no requirement for dis- posable probe covers, and simple wiping is adequate. Thus, future operating budgets for thermometry in institutions using only Temporal Artery Thermometers are zero. Furthermore, with disposable waste eliminat- ed, the institution contributes significantly to ‘green’ operations, while reducing storage space and handling costs. In the past ten years, US institutions have saved approxi- mately $500 million in disposable costs, and nearly 50,000 tons in disposable waste. With Temporal Artery Thermometry initial cost is about the same as other thermometry devices available and acquisition cost is typically less than one year of disposables


cost, thereby not requiring capital budgeting.


Exergen Corporation | 400 Pleasant Street | Watertown, MA 02472


For more information, please call 617-923-9900 x6234, email: medical@exergen.com, or visit: www.exergen.com


Access clinical studies:


www.exergen.com/s

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64