NEHU develops thermal gun that can screen people from 1 foot

A research scholar from the North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) here has developed a thermal gun that can screen people from a distance of one foot, officials of the institute said on Saturday.

The infrared-based device measures body temperature which is an important determinant in detecting suspected coronavirus infection, they said.

The device was developed within three-and-half days by Vinayak Majhi at the Biomedical Instrumentation and Signal Processing laboratory, Assistant Professor of the department, Sudip Paul told PTI.

"The device can measure body temperatures from one foot distance and exhibit the readings in both Fahrenheit and Celsius scales," he said.

NEHU Registrar Professor J N Nayak had requested the department to develop the thermal gun as the university lacks any device to screen people entering the campus, Paul said.

The university authorities had tried to procure thermal guns but they could not be delivered due to the present situation, Nayak said.

"The essential difference between the thermal gun developed by me and other non-contact infrared thermometers is that my device shows the distance of the person from the instrument," Majhi said.

The device's range is significant because the energy of thermal radiation decreases with distance, he said.

Both Majhi and Paul said that the instrument's range could be increased to three metres.

Majhi said he is working on automation of the device to make it a "CCTV camera thermometer" which can screen people without anyone manually operating it.