iPhone Thermal Camera: A Handy New Method to Monitor Hand Hygiene
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Maintaining good hand hygiene practices remains key to preventing the spread of pathogens in the healthcare setting and beyond. However, hand hygiene habits have long proven resistant to change among healthcare workers, patients, and general public alike. Interventions to improve hand hygiene among healthcare personnel have included increasing the now-ubiquitous presence of alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers and accompanied by signage and training, addressing organizational culture, and establishing accountability. Meanwhile, methods to assess ongoing hand-hygiene technique in the healthcare setting remain limited, and critics argue that a focus on compliance rather than quality misses the point, failing to serve the ultimate goal of improving patient care through the removal of pathogens.
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@vinit The thermal imaging allowed for noninvasive yet precise temperature measurement at three predefined points on the dominant hand of the user (mid-palm, tip of third finger, tip of thumb) at four distinct time points (before applying sanitizer gel, immediately after hands felt dry, 1 minute later, and 2 minutes later). Researchers also explored the relationship between the amount of gel used and hand size to see if they were related to the temperature drop.