Heart Restart
Innovation Design Engineering | 2019
Team: Melinda Kuei, Claudia Maw, Aimee Kyffin, Daan Leenarts
Roles: Research, Ideation, Prototyping, User testing/interviews
This design is currently shortlisted for the 2020 Red Dot Design Concept.
Heart restart enables people at risk to carry a life-saving device with them everywhere they go, which will empower their friends and family to save their lives in a time of need.
Research
Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere. You do not need to have a cardiovascular disease to suffer a cardiac arrest. It can be caused by a blunt trauma to the chest area, or even by receiving a huge emotional shock. There are 82 out of hospital cardiac arrests every day in the UK.
Defibrillation within the first 3 minutes of an event increases survival rate from 6% to 76%, and ensures minimal damage to the brain.
The current situation, even in the most defibrillator dense area in London, the average time it takes to get to the nearest PAD (public access defibrillator) is 10 minutes. It also takes paramedics an average of 11 minutes to arrive on the scene. Interviews with paramedics and cardiologists all agreed that the more defibrillators, the better.
Experimentation
Extensive user testing was carried out to increase the accuracy of electrode placement and correct CPR hand placement while also reducing the time it takes to complete the tasks.
We reduced the number of steps from 25 to 8. By reducing the amount of information given and focusing the user's attention on one place; the screen, we manage to drastically increase usability.
Gender Gap
There a disparity in the mortality rate of cardiac arrests between genders. According to a study by Duke University, women are 27% less likely to receive life-saving CPR than men. Because of this, we’ve designed female graphics to give permission to perform all the steps necessary for effective resuscitation.
Prototype
Using Heart Restart is as easy as 1, 2, 3. It is opened, patches separated, and the two halves stuck on the patient.
All the steps are explained through the audio instructions and visual guidance on the screen, and the two shockable rhythms ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation are automatically diagnosed to prevent misfires.
It was important to us that our defibrillator would have at least the same basic functionality as the baseline seen by PADs on the market. Using image recognition software on a patient’s ECG trace, it automatically detects the two shockable rhythms ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia and will not fire unless it sees them. It attenuates its output based on the patient’s impedance and stores all information in an onboard SD card that can be handed over to paramedics as they arrive.
Heart Restart was designed around the technology required to deliver a life-saving shock. The driving factor behind the size and form of the device was the size of the capacitor and battery. We require a capacitor with high voltage operation and high capacitance (2000V, 200 microFarads) to allow for enough energy in the correct discharge time. This currently is achievable by only a single class of capacitors. These are purchasable now at the sizing indicated in this model, and we’ve contacted retailers to ask for a sample component.
All of this is possible within the lower bracket of defibrillator costs (current cost range £800 - £1800), by our reckoning totaling to £278 by components, and £714 by the time we include a development cost markup by a factor of three.
Heart Restart is highlighted by a leather tag and cord to help first responders locate the device in someone’s bag or pocket. In making it a visible object, we hope to see the AED signage become commonly understood in the way that an EpiPen is.
Heart Restart is a unique and innovative defibrillator because of its small size, the fact that it is owned by the at-risk patient and that it empowers their friends and family to save their life in case of an emergency. Heart Restart gives a second chance at life from a pocket.
