Automated CPR Device Improves Resuscitation

The device utilizes an enhanced compression technique, alternating compressions of the chest and abdomen; studies have shown that intermittent compression of this kind significantly increases blood circulation, thereby protecting critical organs. The device can operate as a standalone CPR device, as well as a complementary system to automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Used in tandem, these two devices could dramatically improve the level of treatment.

The system is planned to undergo a pre-clinical study at the Hadassah hospital (Jerusalem, Israel) Heart Institute and will test the electrodynamic parameters of the second prototype of the automated CPR device. The results will serve as a basis for a third prototype planned for development in line with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. The automated CPR system is under development by R.A.Erez Systems.

"It is my belief that a mechanical device able to maintain a high rate of deep, uninterrupted compressions over a long period of time can become a useful tool in improving future resuscitation processes. I believe the R.A.Erez automated CPR device will have merit from both the medical and potentially commercial point of view,” said cardiologist Karl B. Kern, M.D., a professor of medicine at the University of Arizona (Tucson, USA).

Current CPR protocol entails deep, five-centimeter depth-compressions to the chest at a rate of 100 per/minute. The administration of CPR can last as long as 20 minutes. Studies show that when CPR is administered manually by a rescuer, even a trained health worker, the rate and pressure of the CPR drops after the second minute


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