The School of Health Sciences would like to invite you to this Long-Term Conditions and Ageing Cluster Seminar on 3rd June (12.30-2pm).
We are delighted to announce our below Guest Speakers and talk titles.
“Is current body temperature measurement practice
fit-for-purpose?”
Professor Graham Machin, NPL Fellow and Lead of the NPL Temperature and
Humidity Group, National Physical Laboratory.
Professor Graham Machin’s abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought into the spotlight something of which clinicians have been aware for some time, namely the general unreliability of body temperature measurement in health services and, more widely, in public health situations such as fever screening.
Although the medical diagnosis of a disease is not based on a single clinical indicator such as body temperature measurement, nevertheless the unreliability of such measurement could be a contributary factor to inadequate treatment due to the mis-diagnosis of fever. This in-turn could lead to over prescribing of antibiotics contributing to the rise in antibiotic resistance “superbugs” and, also, be a contributory factor to the rise of avoidable deaths from life threatening conditions such as sepsis. Inadequate fever screening, especially by poorly designed and implemented thermal imagers or forehead thermometers could potentially have been a contributory factor, through missed fever detection, to the spread of Covid-19 in the early days of the pandemic before widespread testing.
In this talk Prof Machin will explain the main measurement non-contact thermometry approaches to body temperature measurement and explain their pros and cons. He will then outline some of the activities current and proposed, both in the UK and internationally, that are being undertaken to address this issue, especially in regard to more robust preparedness for future pandemics.
Professor Graham Machin’s Speaker profile
Graham is an NPL Fellow and leads the NPL Temperature and Humidity Group. He has >30 years’ thermometry research experience, published >230 papers and given numerous keynote addresses. He is Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham, visiting Professor at Strathclyde, Surrey and South Wales Universities, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Valladolid University in Spain. He represents the UK on the Consultative Committee of Thermometry (CCT), chairs the CCT working group for Noncontact thermometry. He was President of the UK Institute of Measurement and Control (2018-2019), chair of the Euramet Technical Committee for Thermometry (2014-2018) and served on the EPSRC Physical Sciences Strategic Advisory Team (2014-2017). Graham was awarded the InstMC Callendar medal for “outstanding contributions to temperature measurement”, and in 2019 was elected Honorary Scientist of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is director of the international “Realising the redefined kelvin” project, leads NPL’s metrology activity in nuclear decommissioning, is a founder member of the “NHS Body Temperature Measurement Group” and is the inaugural chair of the CCT Global Task Group on Improving Body Temperature Measurement.
“Diabetic foot ulcer: Identification, monitoring and management”
Dr Rob Simpson, Chief Technical Officer of Celsius Health Ltd and Head of Thermal Imaging, National Physical Laboratory.
Dr Rob Simpson’s abstract
It is well known that the global diabetic population is large (400M) and increasing (predicted to be 700M by 2045). What is less well known is that a significant proportion of diabetics (up to 25%) are at risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers, with around 100,000 active foot ulcers in the UK today. Sadly these can progress to infection and ultimately amputation – one every hour in the UK. For the individuals who progress to amputation the outcomes are bleak. Mortality rates are extraordinarily high – up to 50% are dead within 2 years up to 80% in 5 years. The range of tools available to clinicians and patients for early identification, monitoring and management are limited, in collaboration with clinical partners Celsius Health (a NPL spin out) have developed an easy to use imaging system to support and assist primary and secondary care foot care provision. This device has been on clinical trial for 2 years and is now going through the final stages for manufacture and evaluation.
Dr Rob Simpson’s Speaker profile
Dr Simpson is the Chief Technical Officer of Celsius Health Ltd and Head of thermal imaging at the National Physical Laboratory. His doctorate studies were in the field of medical thermometry – specifically infrared (non-contact) measurement systems, but has deployed his knowledge of non-contact temperature measurement to fields as diverse as nuclear waste, spacecraft and textiles.
Please simply join us by using this link: https://surrey-ac.zoom.us/j/98000052570
No need to register. This seminar will be recorded.
ALL STUDENTS, UNIVERSITY STAFF AND EXTERNAL VISITORS WELCOME
