Parents know taking a child’s temperature isn’t the easiest of tasks. There’s something about a narrow glass tube being inserted in your mouth that isn’t appealing to kids, but we can’t blame them for pulling away. A Taiwanese startup company wants to help parents keep track of their baby’s temperature without the struggle by using a small, flexible patch.
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Called the Temp Pal, this tiny and flexible patch is designed to help manage and keep track of the body’s temperature using direct contact with the skin. You place the Temp Pal patch under your armpit using the medical adhesives included. After clicking the small, round circle to power it on, this patch will then connect itself to the Temp Pal app via Bluetooth. Using thermal technology, the patch will record your temperature and transfer the data to your smartphone, giving you real time alerts on significant temperature changes.
Temp Pal isn’t limited to just tracking a child’s temperature; it can also be useful for women who are looking to get pregnant. The app records a woman’s basal body temperature while sleeping, with no interruptions. Theoretically, at least. When I used it, the device would disconnect frequently. After recording the given temperature, the app will notify women of the best time to conceive. It can also notify women when their next menstrual cycle is approaching.
The Temp Pal itself is reusable (you just have to swap out the adhesives) and comes with an egg-shaped charging dock, along with a micro USB cord. Placing the adhesive on the patch was a bit bothersome, because it’s sticky on both sides. Because of its soft, thermoplastic material, the Temp Pal is flexible, and it’s so small and thin (0.12 inches to be exact), that didn’t cause any discomfort whatsoever. After a 30-second use, I found myself having the place the patch back in its charging dock, indicating the battery life isn’t that great.
Temp Pal isn’t the first temperature-tracking patch we’ve seen. Fever Smart had a successful Indiegogo campaign a couple years ago and is currently available for $129, which includes 10 disposable patches.
Temp Pal is live now on Indiegogo, and for an early bird special of $59, you can grab one with 30 medical adhesives and one charging dock. The usual warnings about crowdfunding apply, and the device is slated to ship in August 2016.
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