Development of cardiac massage vest system

Summary form only given. We developed a new CPR system and evaluated it on a dummy for CPR training. This main feature is a cardiac massage vest that consists of front and rear boards and their connecting belts. A bellows-type air bag placed between the front board and the sternum is inflated and deflated by a controller connected to a high-pressure air or oxygen supply from an air compressor. (for hospital use) or gas cylinder (for ambulance use). Results 1) Set-up for use on a patient took only less than 20 sec. 2) Stable and effective chest compression meeting AHA standards was obtained without crawling of the air bag even in the prone, lateral or sitting, position. 3) Patch-type electrodes developed for defibrillation and ECG monitoring allowed defibrillation while the vest was in place. 4) Cardiac catheterization can be performed during automatic cardiac massage because cardiac massage in a thin and fragile fluoroscopy table was possible with this system. 5) A pressure-limited ventilator gave an adequate minute volume without any pause in cardiac massage.