Find A Great Quality Wheelchair Scale

By Author: John Tang
Total Articles: 512
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Wheelchair scales can be an important health instrument for a significant number of people. While a standard physician scale is generally sufficient for monitoring the weight of a typical person, there are a number of people who are unable to use this type of scale. A person who has trouble standing because of age or poor health will not be able to use a regular scale. A bariatric patient may not be able to support their weight for a long enough period of time to stand on a scale. A patient whose weight must be constantly monitored over a long period of time might have to remain in a wheel chair.

High quality wheel chair scales are available from a number of manufacturers, including Arlyn Scales. These scales should have a number of features that make them easy to use, accurate, rugged and safe. Additionally, they should be easy to move around a facility, and should be able to report their data into a computer system.

One of the most important attributes of a wheelchair scale is a very low profile platform. The scale must include ramps, so that the wheelchair and patient can be easily moved onto the platform. If ...
... the scale is low enough, and the ramp has a low slope, many patients may be able to wheel themselves onto the platform. For those who cannot, a low platform makes it easier for an care taker to push the wheelchair onto the scale. Furthermore, the lower the height of the platform, the shorter the ramp will need to be. This will enable the entire footprint of the scale and ramp combination to be as small as possible, conserving space in what may be a crowded location. The Arlyn wheelchair scales are among the very lowest available. This is attained by using small, but very rugged load sensor that are constructed from stainless steel. This material allows a higher capacity in a smaller size, while still offering high overload specifications.

For the purposes of safety, there may be raised edges on those sides of the platform that are not connected to ramps. This prevents the patient from rolling themselves over an edge, and potentially overturning the chair. It is also easier for an attendant to push the patient onto the scale, as they may not have a clear view of the edges of the platform.

The digital indicator should have large, easy to read digits. Often, the user of the scale may not have excellent vision. Or if a helper is with the patient, they may not be able to position themselves close to the scale. The large, high contrast digits on the display are beneficial. Additionally, the scale should be able to display the patient weight in different units, such as pounds or kilograms. For purposes of accuracy, the scale should have good resolution. Preferably, the indicator should show units as small as one tenth of a pound. It is also important that the scale have a high capacity. It will need to accept the weight of a wheelchair, and perhaps a bariatric patient. So capacities as high as eight hundred pounds or more could be useful.

Once an accurate weight is obtained, it may be manually recorded in a patients record. But in many cases, it would also be useful to transmit the weight electronically to a computer system. Some methods of data transmission include RS-232, Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Ethernet. RS-232 is a standard that has been used for many years. But the newer personal computers no longer include that type of communication port. USB has become very popular. A few of the higher quality scales, such as Arlyn Scales, do offer this option. That brand also offers an Ethernet port as an option. This allows a very wide variety of equipment to be connected to the data of the scale. Furthermore, it is possible to setup this type of a scale so that the data can be collected remotely, over the Internet. Special software is provided that will take the weight data and enter it into an Excel spreadsheet or an Access database table. From this format, it is easy to produce graphs of weight as compared with time. It is also a good way to compare a patients weight data with the type of treatment they may be receiving, to ensure appropriate results.