[A new medium sized probe of the non-tactile type for tympanic membrane temperature monitoring].

The probe TTS-400 for the tympanic membrane temperature monitoring of non-tactile type Bi-Temp TM-200D for adult patients is big enough to cause bleeding sometimes in the external acoustic canal because it is easy to bend its tip against the wall of the canal, inducing a wrong measurement. Therefore, we developed a new medium sized probe and compared the efficacy of the probe to the ordinary adult type probe. In six patients under general anesthesia, 54 measurements of tympanic membrane temperature were performed using both probes and simultaneous monitoring of rectal temperature was performed. The bending of the tip of the probe was seen in 20/54 measurements of the adult type probe, which was with more than 9/54 measurements of the medium sized probe. The bleeding was seen in two patients of the adult type probe and only one patient of the medium sized probe. There were good correlations in the measured temperatures between the adult type probe and the medium sized probe. These two measured temperatures correlated well with the rectal temperature. In conclusion, a new medium sized probe is useful in clinical settings.