Development of an accessible CPR device to improve outcomes for Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest

Abstract

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) are a relatively common cause of death with 350,000 people suffering from an OHCA and only 12% of patients surviving said incidents. Though biological factors significantly affect heart attack outcomes, environmental factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) disproportionately affect much of the population, and especially minority groups. Especially in an environment with inadequate medical infrastructure, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may be the only means of saving a patient’s life in the event of an OHCA. Currently, CPR training courses and automated external defibrillators (AED) serve as solutions to combat OHCA and achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), yet they are quite limited in their accessibility, cost being a significant contributing factor to this issue. Though CPR training courses are an essential resource for the general public, populations with lower SES lack resources and access to these courses, let alone equipment such as AEDs. Additionally, AEDs lack true mobility due to their size, weight, and maintenance. This paper proposes a design of a novel, inexpensive, and portable device that may be able to appropriately guide bystanders, regardless of previous training, to perform the CPR possible on an OHCA patient, providing prospects of anybody with the ability to significantly increase the survival rate of OHCAs, regardless of SES. Working on the principles of accelerometry and metronome usage, this device can provide feedback based on compression rate and depth for improvement. Future research should focus on testing the feasibility and efficacy of the individual functions of the device.