Semtech and Polysense Technologies have joined forces to develop a series of human body temperature monitoring devices based on Semtech’s LoRa LPWAN. The sensors provide real-time data to frontline healthcare workers and let them quickly screen individuals with a high temperature, one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19.
The temperature sensors come in two variants. The first, a wireless sensor for individual use–the WxS x800-IRTM)—uses thermal sensing and embedded LoRa devices to monitor patient temperature in real time. The sensor employs the LoRaWAN protocol to communicate temperature data to cloud-based applications for trend analysis. Alerts can be pushed to mobile devices if temperature thresholds are exceeded, allowing a patient to limit exposure to others and seek medical attention.
The other temperature sensor produced as part of this partnership, the WxS x810-IRTMS, is a standalone thermal meter for use in public spaces. It allows public health officials to monitor public transportation, airports, shopping centers or other areas where people congregate in large numbers. The WxS x810-IRTMS can be deployed in less than five minutes, providing immediate temperature screening to help improve public safety.
“LoRa devices accelerate product development and enable the deployment of solutions to quickly address customers’ needs,” said Marc Pegulu, vice president of IoT for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “Polysense’s thermal temperature monitoring applications serve as an example of how LoRa-based IoT solutions can provide immediate insights that help communities and healthcare providers better address the COVID-19 crisis.”
The WxS x800-IRTM and WxS x810-IRTMS sensors are in production and immediately available. Five kits are already on their way to the government of Italy to help with its COVID-19 containment efforts.