Watertown, Mass, May 14, 2025 – Heat Check: Comparing Temporal and Axillary Temperatures a clinical study released in 2024 by Children’s Health evaluated the accuracy and effective temperature in pediatric patients. The study revealed the temporal artery thermometer should continue to be the standard at Children’s Health given its rapid results, ease of use, low risk to patients, and high tolerability of its use with patients.
About the Study
There are multiple ways of obtaining a temperature in the hospital, including temporal artery, axillary, oral, and rectal. The purpose of this study was to compare the infrared temporal artery thermometry with axillary thermometry on accuracy and effective temperature taking methods for inpatient pediatric patients ages 3 – 18 years old.
Temporal Artery Thermometers (TAT) and axillary thermometers are the most widely used on the Acute Care Services units. They compared these methods to explore the interchangeability and consistency between them. This study’s goal was to determine if the readings varied, and if so, by how much. They compared axillary and temporal temperatures taken on the same patient during routine vital sign assessments throughout their shifts.
Key Findings:
- Temporal temperature readings have shown that it provides unparalleled conveniences in comparison to axillary temperatures.
- Obtaining temporal readings provides rapid and non-invasive readings.
- Temporal thermometer provides infrared technology to read the heat that is exuded from the temporal artery, which is the closest to an individual’s core body temperature.
- Axillary temperatures have more of a risk of being influenced by certain factors such as sweat, clothing or even having the arm up could affect the results.
- Overall, temporal temperature readings have shown consistency and convenience for different domains.
- Considering the relative agreement between the two methods, the temporal artery thermometer should continue to be the standard at Children’s Health given its rapid results, ease of use, low risk to patients, and high tolerability of its use with patients.
Authors and Link
Carmen Tobias, Brissa Campos, Lana Nowar, Bailee Troyer-Womack, Oluwatimilehin Tope-Ojo, Montserrat Meza, Stephanie Delarosa, Michelle Amoah Children’s Medical Center, Plano, TX). Heat Check: Comparing Temporal and Axillary Temperatures, July 2024, https://scholarlycollection.childrens.com/nursing-nr2023/19
About Exergen
Exergen Corporation, the leader in non-invasive temperature measurement technologies for industrial and medical applications, delivers non-invasive temperature meters with higher accuracy, lower costs, less process control, and higher reliability than previously possible. Known in both healthcare and consumer markets for its award-winning arterial thermometer, Exergen was founded by MIT and Harvard – educated and Harvard researcher Dr. Francesco Pompei, who holds more than 100 patents supporting Exergen products. Exergen Corporation is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, United States.
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