North Texas Company Builds Device to Prevent Disease Spread at Border

ADDISON (WBAP-KLIF)- A North Texas made device can possibly prevent disease spread at the Southern Border.

Rik Heller, CEO of Wello, the Addison-based company says the WelloStation device can detect your body’s temperature without touching it. You just stand in front of the device and it scans your face. The machine will then print out a ‘well-being’ receipt with your picture on it to notify everyone you have been checked and are healthy.

Heller says temperature is the first indication of contagiousness.

“With the numbers of people in these spaces, they bring different diseases and one person can turn into 50 and that 50 can turn into hundreds…the contagiousness needs to stop at the detainees,” Heller said.

The company is taking the device to border patrol in Laredo next week. If approved, over 1,000 of the machines will be sent to the southern border.

Heller said outbreaks of illness has caused a lot of border patrol to call in sick. A flu outbreak which killed a 16-year-old in May, prompted a detention center to close in McAllen.

“There’s a lot of pressure for it because there’s been a lot of illness spread…so I believe it will go over there very soon and it will prove itself out as it’s proved itself in hospitals, daycares and jails. We are optimistic it will do very good things at the border,” he said.

The device detects a fever and those that do not pass the test will then be checked for their illness and removed to a different location until they are cured.

Check out how it works: