The clinical use of thermocouple thermometry

The development of a clinical thermometry system entails solving both clinical and technical problems. A thermometry system will, in general, be comprised of a temperature transducing element, a mechanism for interrogating the transducer temperature, and a means of interpreting, reporting and recording the measured temperature. Thermocouples are thermometers which report their own temperature, while the parameter of interest is the temperature of the medium. The two key questions which arise are then: (1) is the thermometer correctly reporting its own temperature, and (2) what is the relationship between the medium temperature and the thermometer temperature? In this work some of the important parameters influencing the temperature of the thermometer and the thermal relationship between the thermometer and the medium are investigated.