Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for measuring the lateral curvature of the human spine to indicate the presence and degree of scoliosis and is useable by non-medical personnel and medical practitioners, including doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, nurses and the like. The system includes a low cost quick operating hand held device based on the operating structure of a standard computer mouse to immediately determine the curvature of the spine. The hand held device scans the length of a patient's spine by contacting the patient's back as it is drawn along the length of the spine to provide a reading of the lateral curvature as X-Y coordinate information which is then graphed by a computer software program which can be run on a standard PC of the desktop, laptop, tablet or other type. The software program allows repeated readings to be saved and compared thereby providing a patient history over time.