Design and development of a non-contact thermography device for equine research

Abstract

Equine events such as racing, rodeos, fairs, breed association sanctioned shows result in a congregation of animals, and there is a high risk for the spread of disease among participating horses. This risk can be lowered through an effective biosecurity program. An important part of a biosecurity program is to have a rapid method used to obtain reliable body temperature measurements because changes in body temperature are often a vital indicator of infectious animal disease. Fever refers to a consistent rise in body temperature that is more than a normal range (99.5 to 101.0°F) and is one of the most commonly recorded clinical parameters in the physical examination of a horse. Measuring body temperature in animals includes the use of rectal thermometers and thermal microchips. These temperature measurement methods have different limitations such as intolerance to the procedure, time required to obtain the measurements, or the need to have a microchip implanted in each animal and a portable scanner that can read the microchip. Taking these limitations into a consideration, a team of students (Animal Science, Engineering Technology, Electronics, Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET), and Industrial Design & Development) and faculty were challenged to design and develop a low-cost non-contact infrared thermography device. This was a special and interdisciplinary project (not a capstone project) that was proposed by Animal Science faculty. Students and faculty in the project team designed and built the device after investigating existing similar products in the market.