Patent ID: 6439768
Filing Date: 2002-08-27
Classification: G01K

Abstract:
An electronic thermometer for determining the temperature of a human body, comprising:a symmetrically shaped probe having a symmetrical point; a sensor provided in the symmetrical point in the probe for sensing temperatures of the human body and outputting the sensed temperatures; and a processor for sampling the sensed temperatures at a plurality of times, performing a first temperature calculation to obtain an initial prediction of temperature, and applying a selected compensation coefficient in a first first-order differential equation (A) to calculate a compensated temperature, and using the calculated compensated temperature in a second first-order differential equation (B) to calculate a final prediction of temperature, wherein: the compensation coefficient is selected from a plurality of different compensation coefficients, based on a rate of change of the sensed temperatures, different parts of the human body having different compensation coefficients associated therewith; and the first first-order differential equation (A) comprises a first derivative of each of the sampled sensed temperatures; and the second first-order differential equation (B) comprises a first derivative of the compensated temperature; whereby the electronic thermometer calculates a second order prediction of the temperature of the human body based on the compensated temperature before the sensor has reached the temperature of the human body.