Covid-19 forced many countries to go into a lockdown; however, no many areas are easing on the restrictions, but we all remember having our temperature checked to get into many areas during the peak of the pandemic. These checks are performed because the coronavirus is known to increase the body temperature and often signaled an infection that a person might not know about.
Researchers have developed a new technology that is capable of checking body temperature using a smartphone camera. A team of researchers led by Dr. Won Jun Choi at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has developed a thermal imaging sensor that overcomes costing constraints. The device is said to operate at temperatures up to 100 degrees Celsius without requiring a cooling device.
Cost-effective than conventional methods
Scientists believe the new tech will be more cost-effective than standard sensors that are available in the market and could be used in smartphones and autonomous vehicles. To incorporate the device within smartphones and self-driven vehicles, it has to work stably at high temperatures of 85 degrees Celsius, respectively. Existing thermal-sensing sensors need a cooling device to work in those thermal conditions.
The thing that restricts cooling devices from being used in thermal sensors is their high cost. Despite the price, the cooling devices don’t the sensors suitable for operation at temperatures as high as 85 degrees Celsius. These limitations have kept thermal imaging sensors from being used in smartphones or autonomous cars.
Converting heat into electrical signals
The new sensor was made using a vanadium dioxide film that is stable at 100 degrees Celsius. It is capable of detecting and converting infrared light generated by heat into electrical signals without the need for cooling devices. Usually, cooling devices take up around 10 percent of the cost of a thermal imaging sensor and eat up good amounts of current.
Researchers say their new tech can get the same level of infrared signals at 100 degrees Celsius as it would at room temperature. The new sensor can also detect thrice the sensitivity and converted it into electrical signals.
