[A comparative study of three types of tympanic membrane temperature monitoring].

We compared three types of tympanic membrane thermometer, Bi-Temp TM-200D (RSP), Mona-Therm (MT), and Quick Thermo (QT). RSP uses a thermister method, MT a thermo-couple method, and QT detects an infrared energy. The tympanic membrane temperature measured with RSP correlated significantly with those measured with MT or QT. RSP showed temperatures 0.5 to 0.6 degree C lower than MT and 0.3 degree C lower than QT. At the initial phase of monitoring the temperature, RSP showed a gradual increase to a stable temperature. However, MT indicated a transient increase followed by a decrease to a stable temperature. Both reached to stable temperatures in 100 to 120 seconds. These characteristics of thermometers should be considered when we compare the tympanic membrane temperature measured with various thermometers.