Infrared fever sensing system, detects passengers' body temperatures, spotting people with a fever one of the symptoms of SARS

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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New York Times
Military Hardware Is Adapted to Fight SARS
By WAYNE ARNOLD

INGAPORE, May 11  Authorities in Singapore have adapted devices originally
developed for a military purpose  seeing enemies in the dark  to help combat
the spread of SARS.

The new version of the device, called an infrared fever sensing system,
detects passengers' body temperatures, spotting people with a fever  one of
the symptoms of SARS  without having to touch them or even make them stop
walking. The system, which is said to be is easy to use, was developed in a
week.

Now, instead of having to pass a phalanx of inquisitive nurses, passengers
arriving in Singapore simply walk past a camera. Those who appear to have a
fever are taken aside for a closer look by a technician.

The device has become so coveted by immigration authorities and other
officials around the world who are hoping to spot infectious people that the
creators of the system are planning to begin commercial production, in
partnership with the Solectron Corporation of Milpitas, Calif.

Development of the system began with a telephone call in early April from
the Ministry of Health to Singapore's Defense Science and Technology Agency,
asking for a more efficient way of screening incoming passengers for fever.

"The problem wasn't new to us, because we were watching the TV," said Tan
Yang How, the agency's division manager for sensor systems. Aside from being
slow and intrusive, the use of nurses to screen all incoming passengers was
a waste of skilled medical staff. "Nurses are needed back in hospital," Mr.
Tan said. The agency in turn asked the Singapore Armed Forces to lend 50 of
its thermal imaging scanners, used to help weapons systems locate targets
that cannot be seen otherwise.

Together with Singapore Technologies Electronics, the manufacturer of the
scanners, more than 30 engineers at the agency worked to modify the devices
for the new purpose. Two flat-panel displays were added, along with an
adapter to allow it to be plugged into an ordinary electrical socket.
Engineers then took software originally designed to interpret thermal data
to find cracks in rail lines and adapted it to search for hot people.

The finished product, which rolled into the airport a week later, is housed
in a stainless steel trolley rather like a hot-dog stand. In place of an
umbrella, the trolley has a camera covered in a black cowl, with only the
lens protruding. One display screen sits on top of the trolley, and another
is on a stand facing oncoming travelers.

The camera "sees" the warmth of objects relative to the ambient temperature,
and translates that information into a video image of people walking by. The
customized software is set to display anything cooler than 93.2 degrees as
black. Normal exposed skin in the mid-90's registers as lime green,
brightening to yellow as it gets warmer. Anything at 99.5 degrees or above,
like a feverish forehead, glows bright red in the image.

The system is remarkably sensitive, able to discern temperatures to within
one-half a degree at a range of 15 feet. It can see warm bodies much farther
away, though less precisely.

Of course, not every fever is a sign of SARS, and a fever is not the only
reason a person might redden on the screen, according to Ace Cheong, an
operator of one of the devices.

A sunburn, a few drinks of alcohol or just some brisk exercise might raise
skin temperature enough to earn a trip to the special cubicle nearby for an
encounter with an oral thermometer, Mr. Cheong said. He said that having
eaten mutton or smoked a cigarette recently can also produce a red response.

Singapore has 25 of the devices on trolleys deployed at Changi Airport, at
ferry terminals and at the two causeways linking the city-state to
neighboring Malaysia. It has lent several more to officials in Hong Kong and
Canada.

But Singapore Technologies Electronics has bigger plans, according to Tay
Hun Kiat, who heads the company's operations in Asia and the Pacific.

With orders for 110 more units in hand, the company has contracted with
Solectron to begin producing commercial versions in a factory that now makes
servers and circuit boards for Hewlett-Packard and I.B.M. The first off the
line will sell for about $50,000 apiece.
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