Navy’s temperature guns to cost ₹1,000

nNEW DELHI: The Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, has designed and developed a hand-held infrared temperature sensor, and has the capacity to scale up its production, if agencies require the instruments in large numbers to screen people for fever amid the Covid-19 outbreak, the navy said in a statement on Thursday.

The navy said the instrument has been developed due to the scarcity of temperature sensors in the market, where these are being sold for a high cost. “The instrument has been manufactured for under ₹1,000 using in-house resources. The cost is a fraction of the price of the temperature guns in the market,” the statement said, adding that the country’s medical infrastructure was being tested by the surge in the count of Covid-19 cases.

The dockyard’s temperature sensor has an accuracy to 0.02 degree Celsius, as per the statement. The temperature guns will be used for screening the 20,000 personnel who visit the dockyard daily. “In view of Covid-19, initial screening of these personnel entering the dockyard was essential to prevent the spread of the disease within the yard and the navy’s Western Fleet. The most preliminary method to screen a probable patient is to check for body temperature by non-contact means,” the statement said.

As the country prepares to handle a rising number of cases and meet its need for ventilators, which about 5% of the Covid-19 patients may require, the navy has also pitched in with an innovative ventilator design that can cater to six patients simultaneously.