EVERETT — A heat scanning device designed and manufactured in Everett is helping Mexican airports quickly spot travelers who may have swine flu.
Airports in Mexico have purchased 40 thermal imagers — about $500,000 worth — from Everett’s Fluke Corp. They’re using them to scan crowds to pinpoint individuals with elevated temperatures, which could indicate a fever, a flu symptom.
Fluke spokesman Larry Wilson said the device is for industrial, not medical, use. It’s typically for electrical technicians and others to find problems in electrical systems or mechanical devices where searching for heat by touch could be dangerous.
But the scanners do make good screening devices because they can look at lots of people and do so while they’re moving, so there’s no travel delay, Wilson said.
“In a situation like swine flu, it can be useful if used correctly,” he said. “It is nothing more than a scanning device, but it is helpful for that.”
The portable infrared devices are being used across Mexico, including at Benito Juarez airport in Mexico City. The handheld devices, which usually have a small display, are being hooked to large screens to show the heat signatures of large groups. The devices measure skin temperatures to within a small fraction of a degree and display them in color on the screen.
Fluke has sent representatives to train the airport officials on how to use the devices, which can trigger an alarm or a light whenever someone has a higher-than-normal temperature. Those people can then get further tests to see they actually have a fever and, if so, if they have swine flu, or H1N1.
Wilson said Fluke developed the scanners several years ago after acquiring a company that made larger devices.
“Thermal imagers were very complex and very expensive,” Wilson said. “We figured if you could make one more simple and more affordable, then you could do a lot of surveying of things without have to touch them.”
The devices range in cost from $4,500 to $25,000 and are used for things like finding heat loss in homes and businesses or locating hot fuses in electrical panels.
“It’s our fastest-growing product segment,” he said.
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