Automated COVID Screening using NIRAMAI FeverTest

Background

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has shocked everyone. Community screening is the most important aspect to reduce this disease spread. Identifying likely infected people correctly helps to control the spread. The most common symptom seen in likely COVID positive patients is  elevated body temperature (fever). According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), all visitors to  hospitals, public places or other institutions, should be passively screened for symptoms of fever and acute respiratory illness before entering such facilities.

 Currently, hand-held infra-red thermometers are used to measure the skin temperature of individuals  in airports, hospitals and other public places. This method of measuring the skin temperature is prone to manual errors, time consuming and risks infections due to close contact. Just measuring increased temperature of the individual is also not a sufficient signal of COVID19 infection.

Technology

Niramai Fever Test is an AI based solution integrated with a Thermal Camera to perform skin temperature screenings in high-traffic areas. It is aimed at enabling automated screening of groups of people to detect likely COVID19 symptoms by checking for elevated temperature (fever) . This solution consists of a Thermal Camera installed at the point of entry which provides the input thermal images to use NIRAMAI’s most awarded novel AI solution, called Thermalytix™ (Artificial Intelligence Algorithms over thermal images). The software automatically detects individuals who enter the camera’s field of view and, within seconds, locates a hot spot and measures the skin surface temperature. If the measured temperature is higher than the rolling average, an alarm notifies the operator who can then immediately determine whether a second screening with a medical device is needed. This solution can be monitored automatically by a minimally skilled personnel  as a first stage screening check.

Niramai Fever Test can also measure the breathing rate of select individuals by focusing the region under the nostrils and raises an alert if the breathing rate is deviating from the normal acceptable value.

The solution is available in  three flavors:

  • Mobile Single Person (MSP) : This highly affordable and user-friendly solution uses sensors that accurately detect the skin-temperature without touching the person being screened. This is ideal for small business entities, educational institutions and residential communities. (Brochure)
  • Single Person Test (SP) : This  solution uses a low resolution thermal camera and   requires individuals to walk in one-by-one and stand in front of the thermal camera for a few seconds.. The application checks the skin temperature and generates a log of all people screened and statistics for the day.This is very effective in medium-sized enterprises and communities with low to mid-level footfalls (Brochure).
  • Multi Person Passive Test (MP) : This is a passive test where a high resolution thermal camera  observes entry  of people to a building. Multiple people can simultaneously walk in and  the thermal camera measures the temperatures of all persons walking past. This is a seamless process as there is no interruption to the flow  of people walking, in this mode. This is highly effective in high-footfall locations including large corporate premises, factories and areas of high public convergence  (Brochure)

Advantages of Niramai FeverTest

How is this different from infrared thermometers?

Thermal Screening using  infrared thermometers is not suitable for mass screening and has the following disadvantages over NIRAMAI solution:

  • Close contact measurement provokes fear across individuals  being screened and the required close proximity also increases the risk to the person conducting the screening if  social distancing is not maintained.
  • Infrared  thermometers are error prone as the temperature measurement depends upon the distance from the point of measurement such as forehead or hand . 
  • The manual process is time consuming, labor intensive and could result in long queues when used in high traffic areas such as at airports, railway stations and other public areas
  • Ensuring that each individual is screened in  high footfall  areas may be difficult. .

How is this different from thermal cameras installed in some airports?

FeverTest  makes the screening process non-contact and passive. The thermal camera  provides a live thermal video stream  which is analysed. FeverTest sounds an immediate alarm when the  threshold temperature is exceeded. 

The NIRAMAI FeverTest solution also includes an AI enabled software for automated analysis of the thermal stream. The advantages of NIRAMAI Automated FeverTest are:

  • The solution based on thermal imaging measures skin temperature automatically  using high-quality  thermal  cameras. It can measure the temperature of  individuals from a distance of 1.5 feet to 10 feet .
  • Thermal cameras can measure the temperature of multiple people at once. This is especially beneficial in busy public and work areas.
  • Contactless measurement supports social distancing norms. 
  • Reduced psychological impact as it is a passive process and does not provoke fear and negative emotions.
  • Using NIRAMAI AI solution, enables centralized data collection of the screened individuals, face recognition and automated alarms when individuals with elevated temperature are detected. .
  • In addition to a fixed temperature threshold, the solution detects relative temperature abnormality and learns the threshold automatically, enabling the screening to work irrespective of the environmental temperature.
  • In addition to elevated body temperature, thermal distribution on different parts of the face are analysed to determine potential respiratory abnormalities as well.
  • Daily statistics of the number of people screened and detected with elevated temperature can be made available in a seamless manner.

*Currently the solution is available only for Indian market.

Find out more about Thermalytix