Is your company looking to purchase a thermal camera-based Coronavirus Detection System? If so, be careful. Be very, very careful!
Misinformation, Fraud, and Theft
Sadly, fraudsters are using people’s sense of fear during this pandemic to take advantage of vulnerable people and businesses. We are aware of a number of coronavirus related scams and malware campaigns. These encourage you to give away sensitive banking and personal information, or download malicious files to your home or office computer. Out in the community there have been a number of ‘Good Samaritans’ who have offered to do the shopping for the elderly or vulnerable, simply to disappear with their money.
Misinformation within the Security Industry
Information we are receiving from the USA indicates that the ‘infection’ of coronavirus misinformation is also spreading fast through the security industry. This is worrying because having lived in America, and having set up a company there, I know, only too well, that what happens in the USA will quickly float across the pond and become normal in the UK. Indeed, since I first conceived this blog, I have already received a number of questionable offers of Coronavirus Detection Systems.
IPVM, the world’s leading testing facility for IP CCTV systems report on a number of companies that are making claims for their equipment, which are clearly impossible to achieve. As Coronavirus Detection Cameras can cost over £8,000 each, and many organisations are ordering these in multiples, this is an easy way to lighten the bank balances of the unwary.
IPVM has kindly allowed us to reproduce, for end users in the UK, their evaluations of a number of systems; the good, the bad and the ugly.
First, some very good advice.
The following is a comment by a company selling Coronavirus Detection System in the USA.
The major trend directly associated with Coronavirus is the upswing in Body Temperature camera interest and sales. We currently offer xxxxx and it appears to work well at ‘Body in a Crowd’ or choke-point detection of people with elevated temperatures. The major caveat here, and a major concern, is that COVID-19 can be contagious weeks before and even after someone manifests symptoms. In fact, there are some documented cases of people that had contagious Corona with no symptoms. In this case all Body Temp cameras will not alert and the well people in the building will proceed with a false sense of safety. One can only imagine a scenario in which an asymptomatic carrier causes a major outbreak in a building that possibly ends in death. In my opinion, all parties involved in the sale (from manufacturer to distributor, to installing integrator) should very carefully sell Body Temp cameras as ‘Indicators’ of conditions while never alluding to the ‘Detection of Corona’ or any other contagious febrile viruses. And it is important to remember, legally speaking, that the video evidence of what would be inevitably characterized as a missed alert will be captured as evidence on the customer’s or cloud’s recording DVR/NVR. It is not a bad idea to include a note in your agreement that stipulates that Body Temp cameras are a useful tool, but not fool-proof.
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The Reliable information.
IPVM
In our research of various options, we found 4 fundamental accuracy issues:
- Camera temperature detection accuracy – while some manufacturers claim accuracy to as precise as 0.3°C, we are sceptical of actual field accuracy as these are likely overinflated. Surveillance users can compare to lux ratings.
- The positioning of cameras – many cameras being used to detect temperature are positioned perpendicularly to the person and/or the person is on the move. This significantly reduces the probability of an accurate reading, as one is briefly getting the side of a person’s head, which typically has a lower temperature reading.
- Reading temperature on the forehead and other areas of the face is heavily impacted by environmental factors. In airports, for example, subjects entering from outside will be skewed by hot, sunny days or very cold temperatures, or those running to catch a flight may be flushed, raising surface skin temperature.
- The use of blackbody devices (powered heated elements) is rarely emphasized but frequently required by such systems, increasing the cost and complexity of deploying them.
In the USA, another source of reliable information is the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) which has a certification scheme – 510k.
Are Thermal ‘Fever’ Cameras Medical Devices?
The FDA would generally say yes if the cameras are being used to help diagnose illnesses such as a fever. This is important since the FDA regulates medical devices, including “telethermographic” (thermal) cameras. The CDC has a list of “FDA-regulated devices for measuring temperature” that includes “telethermographic system (“thermal scanners”)”.The FDA also said that if a company were to market a thermal camera that could detect fever or coronavirus entirely on its own, then it would require Pre-Market Approval. However, the FDA has not granted any approval to a thermal camera that can, by itself, diagnose illness.
It’s easy to find cameras that have received 510k clearance by the FDA (for adjunctive purposes) by looking up the correct product code (LHQ) on the FDA’s website. A number of offerings used at places like airports, such as FLIR, ICI, and Optotherm are listed.
Systems with FDA Certification.
Firms that we are aware of, having 510k certification in the USA, are as follows. Please note we are not recommending these systems nor stating that they are better than those from other companies which have the correct certification.
Flir
ICI
Spectron
Optotherm
UK Legislation regarding Coronavirus Detection Systems
In the UK the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is the organisation we would expect to have equivalent legislation, if available. We have contacted the MHRA over the last two weeks but are still waiting on some definitive answer concerning this. If there is anyone reading this who is aware of UK legislation covering fever detection systems, we would appreciate hearing from you so that we can update the article accordingly.
UPDATE – FDA “Does Not Intend to Object” To Unapproved Fever Detection Cameras
New guidance from the US FDA states that it will not go after companies which are marketing unapproved detection cameras while the coronavirus public health emergency is in process.
Downside: Encouraging Bad Practices
On the downside, the FDA’s new guidance will result in even more dubious thermal solutions being touted, and allow the fever cam Gold Rush to accelerate. Poorly-implemented solutions will likely cause false negatives/positives, leading to unnecessary harassment for regular people. Meanwhile, many will rush to buy the cheapest solution or the one with slickest marketing or simply what they can actually find available.
Another major issue is what will happen when the pandemic is over and the FDA once again requires 510(k) clearance for such solutions. Though, many of these systems may be abandoned by that time anytime.
Upside: Clarity Finally Here, More Companies Can Enter
On the plus side, the FDA’s new guidance does offer clarity to a previously fraught situation. Many companies were declining to enter the market due to legal risks. Now, they can join which might help expand options.
We would like to thank our friends at IPVM for their willingness to make both their research, and their reports, available to us. IPVM is the world’s leading authority on video surveillance, delivering unmatched reporting, research, and test results. Founded in 2008, they are independent and dedicated to objective information and do not accept advertising, sponsorship nor consulting projects from manufacturers. Their work is funded through a paid member’s service.
For CCTV Installation Companies an excellent CCTV design tool and calculator is also available, free of charge with, or without, a subscription.
UPDATE 27/7/2020
UK Government Says Cameras for Detecting Coronavirus “Unsuitable”
UK government’s medical device regulator has issued a press release stating that cameras are “unsuitable for this purpose” and recommends “caution” buying such products, saying they are “unlikely” to be compliant with UK medical device requirements.
Furthermore, The MHRA website states that failure to comply, with its regulations, may result in prosecution which “could carry a penalty of an unlimited fine and/or 6 months’ imprisonment.”
To read further details of the above and how this may affect manufacturers, suppliers and companies using cameras to detect high temperatures in people go to UK Government Says Cameras for Detecting Coronavirus “Unsuitable”.
