HandScanner: Prescriptions & FAQs

🔍  Detection Capabilities

The HandScanner is designed to detect the presence of foodborne pathogen carriers on users' hands. While visible dirt, debris, or garbage is not acceptable in a food-safe environment, our advanced detection algorithm targets carriers of high-risk contaminants such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria; organisms known to cause serious foodborne illnesses.

This tool serves as a critical final check, helping ensure that team members are not inadvertently acting as carriers of harmful pathogens before entering sterile, food making areas.

Important: The HandScanner is not a substitute for proper handwashing. It should be used after hands have been thoroughly washed, serving as an additional layer of protection against cross-contamination.

If you’re interested in a more detailed or technical breakdown of our detection technology, please contact your Customer Success Manager  or PathSpot support <support@pathspottech.com> for further information.

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🛠️ Physical Environment Guidelines

To ensure optimal performance of the HandScanner, it’s essential to maintain a stable and unobstructed physical environment under the scanner. While the device is designed to adapt to a variety of settings, cluttered environments and unnecessary movement in, under, and around the scanner can increase the number of inadvertent scans "no hands detected", leading to reduced device efficiency, more frequent camera recalibrations (pop-ups / device countdowns), and ultimately slower scan performance.

💡 General Recommendations

• Keep the area beneath the HandScanner clear.
  Remove any clutter such as trash cans, cleaning supplies, or other items. A clean, stable environment helps reduce unnecessary camera recalibrations and supports faster, more accurate scans.

• Minimize movement within the scanner’s field of view.
  Although the system's machine learning model can adapt to environmental changes, frequent movement, such as shifting objects or passing equipment under the camera, can temporarily impact performance and increase the likelihood of delayed scans due to needed recalibration.

• Be mindful of nearby activity.
  IF POSSIBLE, Avoid placing the scanner in tight or high-traffic areas where it may be accidentally triggered. Common causes include carts being pushed underneath the scanner or the device being bumped in narrow spaces, both of which can lead to erroneous scans as well as potentially damaging the device.

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👤 User Behavior Guidelines

Small adjustments in user behavior can significantly improve the speed, clarity, and consistency of scan results. The more consistently placed and still hands are during scanning, the faster and more accurate the HandScanner will perform.

💡 General Recommendations

• Maintain proper hand positioning.
  Position hands 6–8 inches below the scanner. Scanning too close may result in accidental contact with the lens, while scanning too far can affect image clarity.

  (For best practices and visuals, refer to the link provided here)

• Keep hands steady during the entire scan.
  Hands should remain still and in place until the scan progress bar is complete. Removing hands too early can result in blurry images and camera delays.

• Clean the scanner lens (only when instructed).
  Lens cleaning should only be performed under the guidance of PathSpot Support or as part of a scheduled maintenance protocol by a manager.

  (Refer to this article for proper cleaning instructions.)
  

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🌐 Network Connectivity

The HandScanner is designed to deliver scan results with or without an active Wi-Fi connection, ensuring that hand hygiene verification continues uninterrupted even when offline. However, certain capabilities; including syncing scan data across devices, updating dashboard data, and maintaining peak scanner performance, do require a stable and reliable internet connection.

💡 General Recommendations

• Periodically check for software updates
  While software updates are pushed automatically, devices with weak or intermittent Wi-Fi may miss them. To ensure your device is up to date, go to Settings and tap "Check for Updates" at least once a month.

• Forget unreliable networks.
  If your device is connected to a poor-performing network, it can impact functionality. Tap the Wi-Fi icon, select the “i” icon next to the network name, and choose “Forget This Network.” Reconnect only to the strongest available network. 

• Use private networks whenever possible.
  For improved speed and reliability, private networks are preferred over guest or public options.

  • An RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) of -60 dBm or higher is recommended for optimal network performance.

“Why did my first scan fail, but the second scan passed—even without washing?”

First, we strongly recommend avoiding switching scanners mid-sequence, as this increases the risk of cross-contamination and inconsistent results.

As for perceived discrepancies between scans on the same device, the most common cause is inconsistent hand placement. For example, if a user’s first scan detects contamination on a high-risk area (like the thumb), but in the second scan the thumb is overlapped or covered by the other hand, the contaminated area may not be visible to the camera, leading to a “pass” result.

🖐️ Consistent hand placement = consistent results.

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“Why do scan pauses or pop-ups occur?”

Occasional scan pauses and reset pop-ups are part of the HandScanner’s recalibration process, ensuring accuracy in contamination detection. These happen more often when the device registers multiple scans without detecting hands "no hands dectected" or in situations where scans are conducted in rapid succession; one after another without a break.

⏳ If possible distribute scans evenly across devices espeically during peak hours.  If there is only one device even a 10 to 15 second pause between scans can drastically reduce camera recalibrations

> Upon request, PathSpot offers a configuration requiring at least one hand to be present in both phases of the scan (palm up and palm down).

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“Why are scan counts ‘jumping’ or fluctuating on the screen?”

Scan count “jumps” during syncing is not a cause for concern. This can happen as part of the data synchronization process between the scanner and your PathSpot dashboard.

Scans are registered to individual devices. Our system then reconciles scan counts across all devices at a location every 30 minutes and updates your dashboard in real time, provided there are no WiFi disruptions.

✅  Reminder: All scans are locally recorded on the device regardless of connection and will be uploaded and updated once adequate WiFi resumes