Page 23 - Security Today, November/December 2020

human being. It can detect hot spots in the floor that’s ready to collapse or within a remaining wall that continues to smolder.
All of these applications are used by firefighters and manufacturers have found ways to make thermal imaging cameras so affordable that fire departments are finding ways to equip every one of their firefighters with them.
Other previously unforeseen applications can be found in the remote monitoring of electronic equipment. Imagine an elevator control bank within a large office building. Long before mechanical failure occurs and creates a potentially dangerous situation for passengers and repair professionals, the circuitry within the control system can deteriorate. By using thermal sensors and some basic integration, early irregular heat detection of potential circuitry malfunction can alert the elevator service team to contact a building management team before they even know there could be a costly – and potentially dangerous – problem.
APPLICATION MANAGEMENT
For the security management industry, these kinds of application are being identified every day. In fact, let’s examine how thermal imaging systems can be used to help make buildings safer for its occupants during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it is important to note temperature screening products alone cannot diagnose or exclude diagnosis of COVID-19 or any other disease or condition. However, when used correctly, they are very fast and effective at providing an initial temperature assessment for business and institutions seeking to implement daily health checks as recommended by the CDC.
As an initial front line of defense, thermal imaging systems are
an important singular component of a broader strategy to create healthier environments.
When developed to follow FDA guidelines, and when used as designed, thermal scanning products can quickly provide an initial assessment of a person’s body temperature while maintaining social distancing protocols. In an effort to provide safer environments for businesses and other gathering places, thermal imaging can detect elevated temperatures associated with potentially ill people and these systems are not easily spoofed like pyrometer-based kiosk solutions.
This implementation is already evolving, too. Through the use of APIs (Application Programing Interface) available with some thermal scanning systems, integrators can create specific integrated network capabilities using multiple thermal imaging units and temperature screening in one enterprise solution to include entry door access following scans, triggering access control and video management systems, sending pass/fail scan messages and alarm events, and flagging video when a scan occurs.
That is where thermal imaging stands today. While the industry’s focus has shifted this year to addressing public health and safety by helping control the spread of the pandemic, there’s much more in the works for the future. Soon, we’ll all get back to developing new innovations and product
concepts for IoT applications, autonomously driven vehicles and exploring more “unseen” possibilities.
Bill Parrish PhD is the co-Founder, CTO and chair- man of the board of Seek Thermal Inc.
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