When we were children, the choice of options that were available to measure temperature, for the sheer number of people visiting the dispensary daily, were pretty much limited. To avoid infection due to contact, the traditional mercury thermometer had to be dipped in the disinfectant every time before being used for the next patient.
But this will not be the case for long. The evolution of technology is one of the biggest catalysts on how the face of medical and other precision instruments are changing. The latest in the market for thermometers is the infrared laser thermometer which, as the name suggests, uses a combination of infrared waves and laser beam to provide an accurate and, most importantly, contact less temperature reading.
The laser thermometer, as it is widely referred as, is not so complex in the usage of technology. The idea behind the device is quite simple that laser beam is used to aim on the subject that needs a temperature check. Laser ends its job here and hands it over to infrared technology which actually does the task of temperature check. The entire process is contact less and hence, a number of people may choose to refer this device as contact less or non contact laser thermometer.
At the heart of the laser thermometer is a very simple yet efficient concept of physics that the molecules of a matter are in constant motion and when the temperature of the substance increases, so does the intensity of the motion of its molecules. This is a wonderful example of different working aspects of science being interfused together to achieve modern day device. To get to the deeper level of understanding of the working, when a user aims the laser thermometer towards a subject, a not-so-complex array of lenses and mirrors present in the thermometer work together to determine the infrared radiation at the surface of the subject. The infrared radiation is the energy present at the longer wave length than normal visible light and the thermometer determines the wave length of the infrared radiations of the subject which measures how fast the molecules of the subject are moving. The micro-chip then works out the accurate surface temperature of the subject and the temperature is finally reflected in a digital format appearing on the display of the thermometer. While it took me a while to type the above working of the digital laser thermometer, it performs the actual measurement at an incredible response time of ~500ms.
Now the fun starts when you put together different pieces of the device together i.e. contact less, laser aim, accurate digital display, fast response time, etc. When all these pieces are interwoven together it can be safely predicted that the laser thermometer will very soon find its way through to the kits of first aid kits, fire fighters, doctors, clinics and hospitals, various laboratories, etc.
The contact less feature is the most desirable feature while working with hazardous areas or substances, high temperatures, contagious subjects, etc. Due to such features, we may find that laser thermometers are making it way to other related areas like factories, industries, mechanical garages, etc.
Another upcoming avenue for use of this device is the modern day kitchen that is focused to deliver the best of the recipes that include perfect taste, right temperature of the dish and most accurate recipe to achieve the taste that the kitchen could be famous for. A laser meat thermometer can be used to determine the surface temperature of the meat and to achieve that perfect temperature while grilling or cooking. The same idea can be deployed on variety of dishes and we should see a number of reputed laser food thermometer or laser cooking thermometer manufacturers in the market in days to come.
While such culinary laser thermometers are accurate and contact less, they are most accurate and precise devices to measure surface temperature of solid and semi-solid food items with relative ease. However, when it comes to measurement of temperatures of liquids they need to be stirred before doing a temperature check. Also for shiny objects the check deploys a bit of a different method then the point-shoot-read method described in the above paragraphs of the article.