Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency medical procedure used to treat victims of cardiac arrest to oxygenate the victim's blood and maintain a cardiac output to keep vital organs alive. The technique involves the application of force to the victim's chest at the rate of 100 compressions per minute.
To help train medical personnel in the use of the technique, two Canadian students have invented a novel device called the CPR Glove.
Corey Centen and Nilesh Patel, both biomedical engineering students at McMaster University in Canada, were in their senior year discussing ideas for a final project. During their discussions, it emerged that neither could remember how to perform CPR even though both were trained in high school.
Further research showed there was a market need for a device to assist with the practise of CPR, and so they created a custom-made glove with sensors and an LCD screen to give instructions and feedback to a user performing CPR.
The glove is able to provide information on the rate, depth, force, and angle of compressions as well as the heart rate. It also speaks, providing verbal assistance to the user.
Along with fellow student Sarah Smith, Centen and Patel have now established their own company Atreo Medical to refine and market the device. They have received support and funding to develop the glove further from various Canadian sources.
In addition, they recently won the undergraduate category of the prestigious Collegiate Inventors Competition (CIC) for their design last Thursday, taking home $15,000 in prize money.
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