New Program Urges Consumers and Medical Professionals to Trade Up Their Non-Contact Thermometers Toward an Accurate Temporal Artery Thermometer

WATERTOWN, Mass., Feb. 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With non-contact thermometers still used widely for public screenings and in homes, extensive evidence of their inaccuracies in detecting fever puts many people at risk of unknowingly transmitting COVID or delaying treatments.

Exergen Corporation, maker of the #1 thermometer sold nationwide and the only thermometer made in the United States, is providing an incentive for consumers and professionals to trade up their no-touch thermometers for an Exergen thermometer. Since the pandemic hit, Exergen has conducted numerous campaigns to educate consumers and the medical community as to why non-contact thermometers are inaccurate compared to the Exergen thermometer, whose accuracy has been proven in more than 80 peer-reviewed published clinical studies.

There is a mounting body of scientific evidence proving that non-contact thermometers do not provide accurate temperature readings. A recent study¹ in the American Journal of Infection Control compared the accuracy of no-touch thermometers to temporal artery thermometers and found that non-contact devices miss five out of six fevers. When body temperatures read below 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit, the thermometers showed similar results, but for temperatures above that, accuracy decreased substantially for the non-contact thermometer. When there is a fever, indicating the individual is sick and can transmit disease, the non-contact thermometer fails to reliably detect fever and provide protection for themselves or others.

Now, Exergen is making it easy for people to obtain an accurate thermometer by turning in their no-touch device to receive a rebate for purchasing a TemporalScanner. All they need to do is visit Exergen.com and upload a photo of the non-contact device they are trading in, the Exergen thermometer they purchased, and their receipt. Once their request is processed, they will receive a $5 rebate. Medical professionals will receive a $20 rebate for each no-touch thermometer they trade up for an Exergen TAT-5000 professional model. Details can be found at Exergen.com.

“Exergen’s mission is based on the fact that accuracy matters. As the #1 thermometer sold nationwide, we have a responsibility to ensure that anyone who wants an accurate thermometer can have one, especially during this time of uncertainty,” said Francesco Pompei, Ph.D., CEO of Exergen Corporation. “No-touch thermometers are largely used for show and can lull consumers and healthcare professionals into having a false sense of security. We are offering a sizable incentive through our trade up program because nothing is more important than accuracy.”

Following the SARS outbreak in 2003, Exergen was invited to develop a scientific paper on the efficacy of the temporal artery thermometer compared to non-contact thermometers. The paper², which was peer-reviewed and published in Proceedings of the SPIE, presents the underlying science of how several physiological artifacts render no-touch measurements problematic, and how a successful method of non-invasive thermometry, TAT, overcomes them. The paper also examines the lack of supporting science behind no-touch thermometers. These devices measure temperature at the outer surface of the forehead, which is not the same as the arterial temperature. Because they are simply pointed at the head, there is wide room for error by variations caused by ambient effects, skin emissivity, perspiration effects, and variable blood flow.

ABOUT EXERGEN CORPORATION
Exergen manufactures and markets two series of the TemporalScanner thermometer: a professional version for hospitals and clinics, and a consumer version sold in major retailers nationwide. More than two billion temperatures are taken each year with TemporalScanners.  Used in thousands of hospitals and clinics across the country as well as in millions of homes, TemporalScanners are the #1 preference of pediatricians, nurses, and parents. The Exergen TemporalScanner’s accuracy is supported by more than 80 peer-reviewed published studies covering all ages from preterm infants to geriatrics and all care areas from hospitals to homes. For additional information, visit www.exergen.com.

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¹ Khan et al. Comparative accuracy testing of non-contact infrared thermometers and temporal artery thermometers in an adult hospital setting. American Journal of Infection Control. 2020 Oct. 2. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2020.09.01
² Pompei and Pompei. Non-Invasive Temporal Artery Thermometry: Physics, Physiology, and Clinical Accuracy. Proceedings of the SPIE- The International Society for Optical Engineering. 2004 Apr 12. doi: 10.1117/12.544841

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