Scales are used in a wide range of patient care monitoring applications from new born babies to burns victims.

Incubator scales

Scales built directly into special incubatorscan used to continuously monitor the changing weight of premature babies.

This information, combined with other critical data can be used to control feeding rates and drug dispensing.

Bed scales

Monitoring the weight of critically ill patients provides important information. However, carrying this out on conventional scales is very difficult. Special beds with built in weighing facilities allow constant and accurate weight monitoring can be carried out

Such equipment is used extensively in the case of burns victims where small changes in patient weight through fluid loss is critical.

Such weighing equipment requires good discipline to ensure that any detected weight changes are patient related rather than from changes in equipment attached to the bed.

Personal scales

Weighing systems can be incorporated in equipment such as lifting hoists and chairs for the handicapped and infirm.

Scales which incorporate additional measuring equipment to measure other body parameters such as pulse rate and height are used in gyms and fitness centres to compute fitness factors and body mass criteria. Such scales are also found in shops and arcades.