Marsden Group
Designing a Patient Lift/Assist Chair Scale
Impact: xxxxx
Brief
To design a medical chair scale with an integrated lift mechanism, helping immobile patients stand while protecting nurses from injury, without compromising accuracy or usability.
Services
Discovery & Feasibility, Concept Development, Prototyping, CAD, Design for Manufacture, Regulatory Compliance
Deliverables
Discovery & Feasibility, Concept Development, Prototyping, CAD, Design for Manufacture, Regulatory Compliance
“What we really enjoyed with this project is seeing how a number of our innovations and redesigned component parts are now feeding their way into the broader Marsden product range. It’s a cycle of continuous innovation that helps keep us energised and Marsden ahead of the game.”
Case Study
Weighing critically ill, stroke patients, or those with limited mobility is essential for tracking progress and ensuring accurate medication dosages. But for NHS staff, manually lifting patients can cause serious back and musculoskeletal injuries, accounting for around 40% of sickness absence and costing the NHS an estimated £400 million annually. Marsden Weighing Group, the UK market leader in weighing applications, saw an opportunity to solve this.
Discovery Phase
As Marsden’s long-term innovation partner, we were tasked with the tricky part — integrating a pneumatic lift into a chair without compromising weighing accuracy. We began with a structured Discovery phase: proof-of-concept builds, user feedback sessions, concept generation, CAD modelling, and focus group testing. These early steps clarified both the technical requirements and the real-world user needs.
Marsden wanted a top-tier product but at an accessible price point. This meant every design choice had to protect functionality and aesthetics while keeping manufacturing costs under control.
Prototyping
We engineered a lift mechanism that engaged smoothly when needed, yet disengaged for precise weighing. Multiple prototype cycles tested robustness, cleaning requirements, ergonomics, and regulatory compliance. By the time we entered production, we had a design that was durable, affordable, and easy for staff to operate.
The result
All components arrived on schedule for Marsden’s launch at the National Back Exchange conference, where the chair scale received an enthusiastic reception.