Development of a novel tympanic temperature monitoring system for GT car racing athletes

J. H. Lee, K. Matsumura, K. Yamakoshi, P. Rolfe, N. Tanaka, Y. Yamakoshi, K. Takahashi, K. H. Kim, H. Hirose, T. Yamakoshi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Motor racing athletes, especially Grand Touring (GT) car racing drivers in the closed-cockpit category, can face lifethreatening situations caused by heat stroke. In this paper, a novel continuous tympanic temperature monitoring system, that could help to reduce this risk, is presented. The system consists of an earpiece containing an infrared-radiation-type tympanic thermometer and a micro-speaker. We validated the reliability of the system for tympanic temperature monitoring in 10 healthy volunteers (21.8 ± 1.0 S.D. years) using a temperature-controlled water bath. In addition, we evaluated the usefulness of the system with 2 professional drivers under real racing conditions in the 2010 SUPER GT International Series. The results showed strong correlation between the infrared-radiation tympanic temperature obtained by the present system and both the direct tympanic temperature (r = 0.994, n = 1119, P < 0.001) and the sublingual temperature (r = 0.972, n = 1119, P < 0.001) as a reference temperature. The mean difference between these temperatures was +0.09°C, and -0.08°C, and 95 % confidence interval (equal to 1.96 S.D.) was 0.21°C, and 0.44°C, respectively. In the field test, involving real competitive racing under severe conditions on a racing circuit, the system functioned well. These results suggest that our novel system has an acceptable performance in a race setting as a reliable tympanic temperature monitor and could help to improve safety of motor sports.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationWorld Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Pages2062-2065
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
EventWorld Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering - Beijing, China
Duration: 2012/05/262012/05/31

Publication series

NameIFMBE Proceedings
Volume39 IFMBE
ISSN (Print)1680-0737

Conference

ConferenceWorld Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period2012/05/262012/05/31

Keywords

  • body core temperature
  • continuous monitoring
  • heat stroke
  • motor sport
  • thermal stress

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Bioengineering
  • Biomedical Engineering

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