Low-Cost Accessible CPR

Team members: Shadman Jubaer, Michael Dziekan, Vicki Sell, Sudhanshu Manda

Approximately 90 percent of patients who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest die. Often rescuer fatigue after more than 2 minutes of continuous CPR makes it almost impossible to deliver effective resuscitation. In rural areas this problem is compounded by the lack of access to trained professionals, and the long delay to receive adequate medical care. After the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Ecuador on April 2016, first responders were unable to deliver CPR to hundreds of victims, resulting in preventable deaths. Though automated CPR devices such as the AutoPulse, ROSC-U, and LUCAS-2 exist, the prohibitive cost of such devices (minimum $12,000) make them inaccessible for the average patient in Ecuador.

There is a dire need for a low-cost, portable, automated CPR device to combat lack of access, rescuer fatigue, and to keep patients alive in rural areas long enough to receive advanced medical care. To address this need, the team is proposing a portable automated CPR-device that costs less than $1000 to manufacture and distribute. The device will be easy to use, and can be operable with minimal training and education.

This project is currently within the prototyping process.
Preliminary tests on electromechanical components have shown the device can deliver the necessary compression while unloaded. The device will be tested for environmental durability after full system integration is complete.

Видео Low-Cost Accessible CPR канала Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University