Automatic CPR device dramatically improves cardiac arrest survival in Stanford an...( eight minutes to simulate the average p...),Health

eight minutes to simulate the average paramedic response time, after which they were treated with both the AutoPulse and standard manual CPR. One group received the AutoPulse first and the other received manual CPR first. The researchers found that the device restored blood pressure better than manual compressions and returned the hearts to pre-arrest condition in 73 percent of the animals treated with the device first. None of the animals first treated with conventional CPR survived.

The study confirmed that the device can help restore blood flow and pressure by mechanically producing chest compressions, researchers said. Unlike conventional CPR, the device can deliver 80 compressions per minute for up to an hour over a broader expanse of the chest than the concentrated area of a human hand.

"The impact is going to be much more than defibrillators found in airports and on planes," said Rezaee, senior author of the study. He explained that no expertise is needed to use this CPR device; its microprocessors automatically estimate the size of the person and calculate the force necessary to compress the chest wall by 20 percent, the optimal amount of pressure to keep blood flowing.

About 460,000 people each year suffer sudden cardiac arrest, 95 percent of whom die, Rezaee said. Blood flow must be restored as soon as possible - within minutes - to avoid lasting health consequences or death. In a typical emergency situation outside of a medical facility, it takes an average of eight minutes or longer for paramedics to arrive. Manual CPR does not provide enough depth of chest compression to adequately restore blood flow (only about 10 percent of normal) to reverse the damaging effects of heart stoppage. "Wherever a health-care professional would do manual CPR, a device like this could be better for the patient," said Rezaee.

Other Stanford researchers who contributed to the study include Fumiaki Ikeno, Hideaki Kaneda and Yoichiro Hongo, grad
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Contact: Mitzi Baker
mitzibaker@stanford.edu
650-725-2106
Stanford University Medical Center
10-Nov-2003

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