Cardiac Attack is one of the most feared diseases in India, with more than 40% death rate. The disease, once known as ‘old man’s,’ disease is becoming more common due to lifestyle changes.
The major reason for heart attack is lack of medical services in proper time. In cardiac arrest, the heart’s pumping mechanism-an electrochemically choreographed affair becomes deranged, so that many motions of various parts no longer work together to pump the blood. With no blood flow to lungs or brain, the victim loses consciousness. From that moment on, time is of essence. For every minute that passes without a heartbeat, the patients chance of survival drops by up to 10 percent. Even if a properly trained bystander immediately starts cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), rapidly compressing the patient’s chest to force blood around the body, survival rates will still decline 5 percent per minute. To actually save the person, you must restore the heart’s normal sinus rhythm, and this is where AEDs come in. Sudden cardiac arrest is most often caused by ventricular fibrillation, when the heart’s lower chambers stop beating and instead quiver rapidly and irregularly. AEDs detect this distinctive quivering and then deliver one or more electric shocks. The shocks cause the heart’s muscle cells to contract simultaneously, interrupting the disorganized spasms and, if all goes well, rebooting the malfunctioning organ.
But AED are one of the rare breed of medical equipments available in the country (India), being only available in sophisticated ambulances or high class hospitals, but the equipment being rarely available in rural areas thus reducing the chances of survival from an heart attack. The objective of the project was to design a “Automatic External Defibrillator,” which is smaller, portable and usable without any prerequisite training.
The defibrillator incorporates a ECG module, with a automated rhythm analysis algorithm that can accurately separate VTVF events from non-VTVF events. The charge delivering unit could be potentially developed to deliver a shock of up to 400 J with appropriate use of capacitors.
The project “Automatic External Defibrillator” was completed with the technical expertise and guidance of Dr.Prakash Poornachari and Anna University. The project was funded by the government and university under the “Research Support Scheme” – Center for Technology Development and Transfer, Anna University.
After evaluation by project evaluation committees, the Registrar of the university approved funding for the project. The sanctioned project was completed on 15th January 2018. The prototype of the project was evaluated by a screening committee setup by CTDT and the prototype was presented at CTDT Technology Exhibition 2018 organized by Anna University. As a token of appreciation, the project members were presented with a certificate of appreciation by the Vice-Chancellor of Anna University and Dean of Madras Institute of Technology during CTDT Technology Day celebrations.
Documents:
Funding Approval Letter – Anna University
