Blog Post
Marsden Connect mobile app development - capturing weight data from medical scales with bluetooth
Sheffield based Marsden Weighing Group is the UK’s leading manufacturers of medical weighing scales. For more than 90 years the UK medical profession has relied on Marsden for high quality, accurate scales.
Marsden is now a market leading supplier of telehealth solutions. Its range of precision Bluetooth and wireless enabled scales can transmit weight data to nearby devices. Recorded weights are accurate and integration with hospital record systems means data can be shared between departments without the need for further weigh-ins each time a patient is assessed.
Marsden asked Sheaf Digital to develop a Bluetooth enabled weight tracking app that would connect to 3 different types of scales.
We designed the app to make it easy for users to log weights, follow trends on a chart and track BMI. New weights can be logged manually (you type in the weight) or grabbed from a compatible Marsden scale via Bluetooth. Users can switch between metric and Imperial weights. Marsden Connect’s ease of use belies the technical sophistication required to handle both multiple data formats from different scales and Bluetooth connectivity with a wide range of different mobile phones.
Sheaf Digital developed Marsden Connect with React Native. The app works on both iOS and Android devices. We chose React Native because it supports both mobile platforms (write one set of code) and there are well established React Native libraries for working with Bluetooth. The app has to work not just with Marsden’s Bluetooth scales, but also with the different types of iPhone and Android phones.
Bluetooth connectivity is increasingly common in medical devices - there are thermometers, pulse oximeters and blood pressure monitors that can transmit data via Bluetooth. Marsden Connect can be part of a wider, more integrated telehealth solution. A patient at home could use a future version of the app to accurately record multiple vital signs and then forward them to a GP or hospital for remote monitoring.