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Help on taking Height Measurements using Arduino(Amendment)

Am focusing on improving the efficiency in health care delivery in rural Kenya. Most of the Health facilities in the rural parts are understaffed considering the huge number of patients that they have to serve on a daily basis.Most time and effort is wasted to undertaking simple measurements and doing data entry for the same piece of information for each patient. This wastes precious time that the health practitioner would have used in assisting another patient. I intend to solve the Height Measurement problem for now for which the patient can stand in front of a given stand with a mounted arduino which picks their measurements.The measurements are then to be sent via sms to a remote location(Doctors computer)

I hope my explanation is now clear

Help on taking Height Measurements using Arduino(Amendment)

Am focusing on improving the efficiency in health care delivery in rural Kenya. Most of the Health facilities in the rural parts are understaffed considering the huge number of patients that they have to serve on a daily basis.Most time and effort is wasted to undertaking simple measurements and doing data entry for the same piece of information for each patient. This wastes precious time that the health practitioner would have used in assisting another patient. I intend to solve the Height Measurement problem for now for which the patient can stand in front of a given stand with a mounted arduino which picks their measurements.The measurements are then to be sent via sms to a remote location(Doctors computer)

I hope my explanation is now clear

You need to explain more - low cost is mercury thermometer and a 2m ruler with that slider thingy that rests on your head. How does adding electronics help ? (I'm not saying that it doesn't, just that you need to describe the system a lot better for anyone to be able to advise about how to build it.)

MK

Michael,
I have re-edited my original post so that its now more clear

Thanks for the additional info. It's usually better just to add another post rather than change the content of an earlier one because this makes the thread very hard to follow.

As to height measurement - the problem with devices like this is that for them to be any use they need to integrate well within the complete environment in which they are used. This normally starts with a lot of study about what it must do and how it might be used. A classic ruler and slider system with button operated readout might work, or do you need a non contact fully automatic system. there will be huge cost differences. My first thought would be that it would be much more effective to train someone to do the basic measuring and drop the electronics. You won't get rid of the operator because the text message from the height sensor has to be associated with the patient so for each height measured you need  a manual data entry.

If you want to know more about the zillions of such devices already in production then Google for "digital stadiometer" (which seem sto be what American medical types call them.

When you know what you want to do and have  a good idea of how much it must cost and where it might be made it will be possible to design  a suitable height sensor.

MK

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