Infrared ear thermometer

In 1991, Diatek Corporation of San Diego put a new infrared thermometer - Model 7000 - on the market. Early electronic thermometers had been used by some hospitals and doctors' offices for several years before that time, but this Diatek model was a pioneering effort to modify space-based infrared sensors for a medical infrared thermometer. The underlying technology was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for missions including the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, or IRAS. IRAS measured the temperature of stars and planets by reading the infrared radiation emitted from them, while the thermometer almost instantly determined body temperature by measuring the energy emitted from the eardrum - quite an advancement in medical technology. Diatek was part of the JPL Technology Affiliates Program, or TAP, in the late 1980s and received help from JPL personnel in adapting infrared sensor technology to this new product.

This post was written for “Historical Photo of the Month,” a blog by Julie Cooper of JPL's Library and Archives Group.

TAGS:HISTORY, TECHNOLOGY

  • Julie Cooper