One medical device that interests me is the Infrared Ear Thermometer.

This device is used easily and cheaply in a region where the healthcare system is not fairly well developed. One of its perk is that it is also designed for home use, especially for babies who usually have less stronger immune system.Although this article remarks how it is already registered and well accepted in China, it’s also often used in South Korea and in US (at McKinley!).

When I used this product in South Korea, I noticed how Infrared Ear Thermometer would be much more effective than traditional thermometers.

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When I was young, there was a strong argument of whether the temperature had to be taken via mouth or armpit for its accuracy for temperature measurement. Also, there were many factors that affected the measurement. Also, as places for measurements (mouth/armpit) are not really hygienic, it was impossible to share a thermometer with multiple people. However, some people might not know about this fact, which can lead to a disaster. On the other hand, a design was effectively created, so that people would know how to use it right away. It does not require attention as much as the traditional ones.

How, for this product, since it’s using infrared, it does not get affected by outside factors as much as traditional ones. However, in prototyping, it requires specialists and specific instruments to get the device created (i.e. infrared sensor).

To get this started, I would like to go into hospital and medical industries to see their interest in the product, to measure feasibility from doctor and nurses think it would be needed with the current technology they store. Although this may not be important factor, it would be great to understand nurses’ and doctors’ point of view to the patients. Then I would like to hold a conversation with individuals who are more prone to use it in family (i.e. mothers, fathers of young babies) since they would be the main users. Although it would hold many physics behind the technical scene with infrared, it would deliver the benefits of using this product. Then I would show them couple prototypes: these prototypes would not hold actual functionality, but it would show the design of it. We would want to measure how instantly people grasp the idea of usage and apply it on patients. Then we would ask feedbacks on how they would like this idea. Although it’s expensive ($72), as there are more productions, it will cost less eventually in future.