Device, system and method for determining the core body temperature of a subject

A method for determining a core body temperature of a subject, said method comprising:

• obtaining image data of skin of the subject,
• acquiring thermal sensor data of the skin of the subject,
• deriving photoplethysmography (PPG) signals from the obtained image data,
• automatically detecting one or more skin areas having strongest PPG signals,
• determining the core body temperature of the subject from the acquired thermal sensor data for the detected one or more skin areas with the strongest PPG signals;
• identifying one or more of an anatomical region or a geometrical structure of the subject, with areas of high blood pulsatility and areas of small blood pulsatility, within the obtained image data;
• and
• adapting the determined core body temperature according to the identified one or more of the anatomical region or the geometrical structure of the subject, with the areas of high blood pulsatility and the areas of small blood pulsatility, based on a difference between calibration parameters, comprising a hottest skin spot, for the identified one or more of the anatomical region or the geometrical structure of the subject.

An apparatus to determine a core body temperature of a subject, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to:
• receive input image data of skin of the subject;
• receive input thermal sensor data of the skin of the subject;
• derive photoplethysmography (PPG) signals from the image data;
• automatically detect one or more skin areas having strongest PPG signals;
• determine the core body temperature of the subject from the thermal sensor data for the detected one or more skin areas with the strongest PPG signals;
• identify one or more of an anatomical region or a geometrical structure of the subject, with areas of high blood pulsatility and areas of small blood pulsatility, within the obtained image data;
• and
• adapt the determination of the core body temperature according to the identified one or more of the anatomical region or the geometrical structure of the subject, with the areas of high blood pulsatility and the areas of small blood pulsatility, based on a difference between calibration parameters, comprising a hottest skin spot, for the identified one or more of the anatomical region or the geometrical structure of the subject.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions which, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to:

• receive input image data of skin of a subject;
• receive input thermal sensor data of the skin of the subject;
• derive photoplethysmography (PPG) signals from the image data;
• automatically detect one or more skin areas having strongest PPG signals;
• and
• determine a core body temperature of the subject from the thermal sensor data for the detected one or more skin areas with the strongest PPG signals;
• identify one or more of an anatomical region or a geometrical structure of the subject, with areas of high blood pulsatility and areas of small blood pulsatility, within the obtained image data;
• and
• adapt the determination of the core body temperature according to the identified one or more of the anatomical region or the geometrical structure of the subject, with the areas of high blood pulsatility and areas of small blood pulsatility, based on a difference between calibration parameters, comprising a hottest skin spot, for the identified one or more of the anatomical region or the geometrical structure of the subject.