CPR Glove

From Medgadget:

CPR Glove A Potential Lifesaver

Biomedical engineering students Corey Centen and Nilesh Patel at McMaster University hope to win the Ontario Engineering Competition with their 'CPR glove'.

Two engineering students from McMaster University have invented what they believe is the solution: the CPR Glove. They have entered a prototype of their innovative device in this year's Ontario Engineering Competition for university students being held in Ottawa from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. They are part of a 17-member team competing from McMaster.
The black, one-size-fits-all CPR Glove features a series of sensors and chips that measure the frequency and depth of compressions being administered during CPR and outputs the data to a digital display.

To be effective, compressions must be given at the rate of 100 per minute and at a depth of four to five centimeters.

A study measuring retention of CPR training published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that 59 per cent of the time, compressions were applied at the rate of only 80 per minute. Thirty-seven per cent of the time, the compressions were too shallow. CPR administered at these levels is not likely to save a person in cardiac arrest.

"We were brainstorming about what we could create for our final-year design project that would provide a real contribution," said Corey Centen, a fourth-year student in electrical and biomedical engineering at McMaster, whose family lives in Ottawa. "We came across this study and recognized the importance of finding a solution."