'Robo-Gloves' to Kick-Start Ailing Hearts in UK

SCIENTISTS have developed a glove that can keep someone alive after their heart has stopped beating. The computerised glove is packed with sensors and electrodes to help paramedics or bystanders carry out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, or CPR.

This is the emergency procedure performed when somebody collapses with a cardiac arrest when their heart has stopped beating.

It involves giving chest compressions and the kiss of life to keep blood pumping round the body and air flowing through the lungs until an ambulance arrives.

It's a technique taught to all doctors, nurses, paramedics and first-aiders. But research suggests these skills are quickly forgotten.

The high-tech glove could save lives by making sure CPR is performed correctly. It could eventually be stored in offices, shopping centres, restaurants and at home. But it's likely to be another year at least before it is readily available.

A liquid crystal display in the back of the elbow-length black glove guides the user through the whole process, measuring the amount of force they are applying and the depth of the compressions.

Getting these two factors right is vital for ensuring the heart keeps pumping blood to the brain and other vital organs. Too little force may not circulate the blood effectively. Too much can cause severe bruising and even lead to cracked ribs.

The glove also alerts the user when the hand is in the wrong position or the angle on the chest is incorrect.

CPR was introduced more than 50 years ago to try to save the lives of people whose hearts suddenly stopped beating.

The London Ambulance Service alone attends around 10,000 calls to cardiac arrests each year. But survival rates are generally low. In London, for example, only 8 per cent of people who suffer a cardiac arrest outside hospital live to tell the tale. In Seattle in the U.S., where more members of the public are trained in CPR, the survival rate is around 38 per cent.

CPR can more than double the chances of making it to hospital alive if it is performed quickly. For every minute's delay in getting to a patient whose heart has stopped, the chances of successful resuscitation drop by 10 per cent.

The first step is to make sure the airway is not blocked. Then air is forced into the patient's lungs by breathing into the mouth. After two of these so- called 'rescue breaths', 30 chest compressions are carried out. The process is repeated until an ambulance arrives, when paramedics may kick-start the heart with a machine called a defibrillator.

The CPR glove, developed by two young scientists at McMaster's University in Canada, is also designed to help those with no medical training to save lives.

THE glove contains a computer program on a tiny microchip embedded in the material. Once it is placed on the chest, an electrode hidden inside the palm part of the glove checks for signs of a heartbeat, to make sure the victim needs resuscitation. If they do, it displays instructions on the liquid- crystal display screen attached to the back of the glove.

As the compressions begin, the tiny microchip analyses the information relayed from the sensors and tells the user if they need to adjust the amount of force, or the rate at which they are pressing.

Atreo Medical Inc, the Canadian firm developing the glove, said: 'Not only is it a life-saving device, it will also be used as a training tool.

The British Heart Foundation says there is 'evidence to suggest' devices such as the CPR glove can improve resuscitation techniques.

But spokesman Colin Elding said they are no substitute for good training.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.