Mobile App Scans Pediatric Patients to “Weigh” Them

September 17, 2019

Written by Clay Smith

Spoon Feed
A new mobile app, the Weighing Cam, that visually scans children with the phone camera was more accurate than the Broselow tape in estimating the weight of pediatric patients.

Why does this matter?
It can be difficult to estimate a child’s weight. For years, I have taught our medical students and residents that the most accurate method is to ask the parent. Then, use of a Broselow tape is good, followed by memorizing a few key numbers: newborn=3.5kg; 1yr=10kg; 5y=20kg; 10y=30kg. This gets you in the ballpark. But what if you could do a Star Trek scan of a child’s body, and the app would calculate the weight?

Move over Star Trek…
This was a study of 480 South Korean children, 15 boys and 15 girls in each age range, that compared a new mobile phone application, the Weighing Cam, to the Broselow tape. At each age, the Weighing Cam outperformed the Broselow. It scans the child with the phone camera, determines the weight, and spits out all the right drug doses and equipment sizes for the estimated weight. The downside is that the patient has to have space to lay down, hold still, and have markers placed on the bed next to the child to make the app work (see image). This may not be feasible in the prehospital setting. It also underperformed in underweight or obese patients. This is pretty cool. I think I will wait until it is refined and improved to use in practice. But this is coming.

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