SHIL & Marsden : Patient transfer scales

Project completed by Ken McCorkindale as co-owner/director of Cramasie.

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Cramasie was asked by SHIL (Scottish Health Innovations Ltd.) to investigate the feasibility of an innovative medical device concept. Gillian Taylor, an experienced A&E nurse had the idea for a transfer board that could also capture the weight of the patient, utilising an existing patient handling process and removing the need for critically ill and immobile patients to be weighed using other less convenient and more cumbersome methods. 

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We visited hospital A&E departments to observe how healthcare workers used existing patient transfer devices and discussed their needs regarding key areas such as handling, storage and infection control. The device had to be light enough that a single person could lift it into position on a bed or trolley and it needed to be thin enough to enable an immobile patient to be slid onto it easily and comfortably, in the same way that a transfer board is used.  

 

We explored a number of technologies and product architectures that would allow the new product to be as easy to use as existing transfer boards, making the device as thin and lightweight as possible while also achieving the very high level of accuracy required by hospital scales. A variety of of materials and manufacturing processes were evaluated and after many months developing and testing prototype devices, we built a fully functional prototype which met the accuracy standards, weighed less than 10kg and was less than 25mm thick. 

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A functional prototype was presented to Marsden, who then developed the product for manufacture.

Launched November 2018.