I’ve been working on jet lag plans, and I want to find my body temperature minimum each day, which is based on the circadian rhythm cycles. I looked at BodyMedia, but the version that provides the raw data costs over $2000.
Does anyone know of a tool that can provide regular temperature readings? Something wearable, that would provide a wifi or bluetooth upload would be best.
Thanks!
You should keep an eye out for some of the new smart-watches. The only one with a temperature sensor that I could find right now is the “GEAK” watch by a Chinese manufacturer.
Here’s an engadget article about it:
The other two main smart-watches in the market right now (pebble and a samsung one) don’t seem to have temperature sensors (but the samsung galaxy s4 phone has one, though it’s designed more for ambient temperature sensing)
Thanks, FeniV! The GEAK watch looks cool.
Are any of these kinds of watches available for purchase yet?
Hey there!
You get skin temperature from the BASIS wristband. (199 USD)
Also, the OP-Innovations kit logs temperature sensor, but I don’t know how well they correspond to actual skin temperature.
Note also that, to arrive at a sensible measure of body temperature, the best way to ‘non-intrusively’ measure it would be to take infrared readings from your temporal artery. Even though unreliable compared to true measurements of ‘internal’ body temperature [1], your temporal artery (try to find it on your temple, you can easily find it with you index finger) is supposedly the spot on your skin which temperature reflects your body temperature most accurately. Compare the location of the artery in the image below to the infra-red image next to it and you’ll see what I mean:
I’ve been tracking skin temperature continously for a while now and I suspect that you’re better off using traditional methods then a gadget. Skin temperature is very much affected by room temperature, while your body temperature is not so much. So if you look for the point of lowest temperature with the Basis or another wrist-worn device you might end up finding out that it’s in the evening just before you enter the house. 
references:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1089947211001584?np=y (random study comparing accuracy btw measurement modalities, pm me for pdf if you find yourself on the wrong side of the paywall)
http://exergensentinel.org/medical/PDFs/tarptx2.pdf (biased sourced but very good explanation of how it works!)
Martin,
Thanks! The Basis watch looks very cool. I’m cautious that they still haven’t built the export functions. Having paid $300+ for BodyMedia that was useless for getting a readout of my temperature, I’m reluctant to buy anything I’m not positive can export my temperature in a useful format.
The photography stuff looks cool, but given my goal is to measure my temperature while I’m asleep to find my minimum temp, I don’t think it would work. Let me know if there’s a way to do this.
Thanks!
Check out:
(python script to grab your Basis Data)
But to be honest, looking at my Basis data, I can’t really say that I find the skin temp data to be very informative.
The photography served more of an example of why the temporal artery might be a better place to measure temperature than your wrist for example.
Since this sounds more like an experiment then a tracking project, you could maybe build a temperature logger from an Arduino and a temp sensor and attach it to whereever you find most suitable. Tape it to your temple with some adhesive medical tape? Or out it inside your nostril? This would definitely give you a valid output and could be just bearable for a couple of nights.
Or this beast: http://www.cooking-hacks.com/index.php/documentation/tutorials/ehealth-biometric-sensor-platform-arduino-raspberry-pi-medical
Otherwise I don’t really know of any commercial devices you could use.
There are these ‘pills’ that you can swallow that measure your core temperature. They’d be considered “gold standard” for this project, but single servings cost 75 USD for 12hrs of recording (although you can go up to 120 hours if you’re willing to eat and pass it several times.)
Let us know what you find out! It’s a cool project!
Hey Martin well i think that you post brilliant info about measuring body temperature.Thanks!!
So nice of you to say that, thank you! If you end up trying either of the proposed alternatives, I’d be thrilled to read about your experiences here in the forum.
Since I’ve been measuring temperature over the last couple of days, and I’ve been reading a bit, I also have some bits of info and updates that I can share:
[size=xx-large]1. [/size]
Apparently, taking the temperature via a rectal thermometer is just as reliable as a temperature pill. So if you’re willing to wear a cable up your behind (and to pass and reinsert it) for a couple of days, this could be the most accurate option.
The way to go would be to build an Arduino temperature logger and wear a rectal probe for a couple of days until you’re confident that you’ve acquired sufficient data. (But there MUST be another way…) 
Source:
[size=xx-small][font=Courier]The purpose of this study was to compare the agreement between core
temperature measurements obtained using an ingestible temperature pill telemetry
system (Tpil|) with those obtained from rectal (Tre) and esophageal (Tes) thermocouples
under conditions of both increasing and decreasing body temperature.
[…]
There were no significant differences in RMSD between measurement pairs on any other trial (overall average
RMSD=0.26°C). Telemetry pill temperature and response time tended to be
intermediate between Tre and Tes. These results suggest the telemetry pill system
provides a valid measurement of core temperature during conditions of decreasing as
well as increasing body temperature and during steady state.[/font][/size]
[size=xx-large]2. [/size]
Esophaegal temperature probe, anyone?
(Again, there MUST be another way…)
[size=xx-large]3. [/size]
There seems to exist a sort of earphone-type thermometer! This is it!
Now you could try to rebuild one of these using an infrared sensor and some silicone putty (Sugru is supposed to be great.), or you can find out where to buy these and post the link here.
Source: http://www.anesthesia-analgesia.org/content/105/6/1688.full.pdf+html
And in order to inspire you further to try and build one, here’s a schematic how to hook up a infrared temperature sensor to an arduino AND the code to read the data.
http://bildr.org/2011/02/mlx90614-arduino/
a) 
This is a schematic how to hook it up to an arduino. (Source)
b) 
This is how the temperature sensor looks on a breadboard. It’s tiny and will likely fit in your ear canal. (Source)
Happy tracking!
Martin
Check out this link, especially a few pages either side, might have to buy this book
Brian
There is indeed a better way to get accurate, continuous body temperature measurements: http://www.google.com/patents/US20120016258
Unfortunately, this approach only works for 1 in 2 people 
I was looking for the same type of temperature and came across this forum through google. Reading your posts I was able to refine my search and found a thermometer of that type. I just ordered it and it should arrive in 3 weeks. It is “Made in China”, however, it would be easy to verify time to time with a normal thermometer. It measures every ten seconds and sends the data to the Android phone or tablet and shows the graphic there. I purchased it around 16 USD. Try to find the lowest cost one.
The keywords to put in google are:
lcd baby thermometer bluetooth
Then filter through the results and try to find the lowest cost option.
And - yes - I became a member to post this in case other people come across this post and posting here, may be they see if it suits them, or make their job easier researching accordingly with the similar keywords.
Thanks for the info, I did the same thing…
There are many ways to measure human temperature and the choice of location and device really depends on your application. For example, if you’re interested in looking at circadian rhythm, the core temperature begins falling shortly before typical bedtime but the wrist skin temperature would actually be rising because the main cooling mechanism is pumping the blood from the core to the extremities. Core temperature would be the most useful but as mentioned above hard to get. In research studies, the distal-proximal skin temperature gradient (ie hand-trunk difference) is used to get a proxy measure of circadian rhythm (brief review paper http://www.chronobiology.ch/wp-content/uploads/publications/2001_16.pdf).
To help with stress, I purchased a HealthSmart BioRelax Trainer as part of my biofeedback training. A wearable version of this gadget would be a wonderful thing, especially if the data were recorded somewhere. My biofeedback coach used a finger thermometer that sent the readings to a computer, but that device was wired. My BioRelax Trainer is wireless, but the data goes nowhere.
MyTemp BV is start-up company based in Nijmegen in the East of the Netherlands that aims to develop an innovative, reliable, plug and play and affordable system to measure core temperature.
Anyone here a beta tester? Swallow a thermometer in a capsule – wear a sensor on a belt wrapped around your stomach and record “2” days of real-time data before recovery from stool. It is the recovery/recycling step I would be most interested in learning more about. For example, could you ‘poop” into a sieve then rinse the fecal matter into the toilet?
see: http://mytemp.eu/products/ https://twitter.com/myTempBV
As far as i know there already available but not cheap systems like this one, the downside is they are not cheap and you need to find sensor in your fecals.
Personally, i bought 2 Calera wearable sensors and getting good enough results, device was able detect circadian rhythm:
Also i have used iButtons at wrist at radial artery area and confirm that they can be used to detect circadian night.
I’ve also used Shimmer Bridge Amp with Temp probe inside ear and was not able to get good results (even with good thermoisolation), so ear might not work for that and i’m sceptical about long term in-ear temp tracking.
You can read lrq3000 wonderful guide where he reveals some temp tracking techniques - Wearadian.
For now, GreenTeg Calera / Core seems to be a best wearable to track core temp in long term.
