This smart armband tracks your sick child’s temperature

A parent’s job description includes regular thermometer readings all night long of a sick child. Now, a startup intends to give that part of the job to your smartphone.

iTherm is a Bluetooth 4.0 smart armband that not only takes a kid’s temperature when wrapped around an upper arm, but does so every minute and keeps a record for the doctor.

“That’s the main difference from other thermometers” or temperature-taking bracelets, cofounder Antonio Sanchez told VentureBeat from Boston, where he is currently a business development manager for a diagnostics company.

The idea arose in Spain after company founder and software developer Marcos Oliva tried and failed to find something to check his child’s temperature every two or three hours during the night. The better idea: A smartphone can stay awake while child and parents sleep, unless the fever spikes.

The company is about to launch a drive for $29,000 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo to finance the first production run.

A prototype armband and app for iOS and Android phones have been created and tested on kids. The hardware-software combo allows moms and dads to set a temperature threshold, which generates an alarm when exceeded. The app also reminds worried parents when any medications need to be taken.

The bracelet is not intended to be a kid’s Flex band, which would be worn all the time. Instead, Sanchez told us, it’s designed to be used when a child feels warm and temperature monitoring is required. “Or,” he said, “you can put it on the child when something doesn’t feel quite right.”

If this smart thermometer bracelet succeeds, the new company is thinking about turning the app into a platform for child-related health monitoring that could use wearables from other companies.

[VentureBeat will be exploring the opportunities and challenges of the wearables market at our Mobile Summit, April 14-15 in Sausalito, Calif.]