January 2, 2008–TORONTO–The CPRGlove, a device invented by McMaster University engineering students Corey Centen, Nilesh Patel and Sarah Smith will be tested in clinical trials in early 2008 by The University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Resuscitation Science.
While CPR is widely taught in North America, trainees quickly forget the proper method of performing the life-saving intervention for people suffering sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). The glove is aimed at fixing that, using an LCD screen and sensors that tell users where they should place their hands, the depth, force and rate of compressions needed, and the victim’s heart rate. The glove could be used in CPR training, to maintain CPR quality through testing, and in real emergencies. The students aims to make the glove a standard part of first-aid kits.
For the McMaster trio, inspiration came from a simple question—if presented with an emergency, would you be able to perform CPR accurately? Though they were trained in CPR in high school, all three students agreed that if put in such a situation, it was doubtful they could confidently perform CPR and save someone’s life.
“That got us thinking about how we could use our biomedical engineering background to develop a technology, and we started researching the quality of CPR,” said Smith. They discovered correctly administering CPR increases the chances of survival of someone suffering cardiac arrest by 400%, but only if administered correctly. The inventors are confident the CPRGlove will give the public that opportunity.
The device has been widely recognized. In November, Centen and Patel won the U.S. Collegiate Inventors Competition's undergraduate category award, and Time Magazine selected the glove as one of the best health inventions of 2007.
Source: Ontario Centres of Excellence.