Talking CPR Assistant Designed to Help Save Lives

The CPR Assistant's new design provides optimum positioning for CPR, and will be a first for the medical market in both Europe and China.

The unique product design was created for Chinese company XFT Shenzhen Xunfengtong and is attracting much attention. Already, the life saving product is being introduced at Shenzhen airport as well as the Asian Games.

The 'CPR Assistant' has two main functions: training and emergency; it can be used during training to teach the principles of CPR and in an emergency even by people with little life saving knowledge. The product talks its recipient through the CPR procedure on a step-by-step basis, moving at an appropriate speed to establish the correct rhythm. Visually, the stages of CPR are also clear as the clean design illuminates a button at each of the six steps.

As an open airway is the foundation of CPR, the physical design of the product was critical to helping the user place a person in the correct position before beginning the procedure.

Extensive research and concept exploration undertaken by IDC's product design and prototyping specialists meant that major changes could be made to the product's specification early on to ensure it was best suited to the market.

The original design incorporated back support, but after carrying out observations in CPR training, a study of different anatomies and general research into life saving approaches and techniques, the product development team felt it was more beneficial and safer for the person to be lying flat on the ground. A specially sculpted, integrated neck and head support was devised through a series of prototype tests and refinements by in-house model makers. The design keeps the head at the correct angle for opening the airway and steadies the body during CPR activity. In the event of possible infection, a hygiene mask is also available in a drawer within the product.

XFT general manager, Mr Song, concluded, "At the start of the project we were concerned about working with a foreign design company, but we have benefited beyond expectation from IDC's international expertise, its contribution to the product's essential design and clear understanding of world markets."

IDC opened an office in Hong Kong at the start of 2008 to provide clients at home and abroad with the support and expertise to develop products made with international, as well as domestic, markets in mind. A member of the China Design Taskforce hand-selected by the Department of UK Trade & Industry (UKTI), the company has generated a strong client presence in China in under a year.

Taken from concept to prototype in just three months, the 'CPR Assistant' has been designed for international distribution, meeting all relevant requirements for different countries.

The XFT CPR Assistant will be on display Arab Health in Dubai this January '10, and will be amongst other medical products designed by IDC at the China Medical Equipment Fair in October '09. Companies wishing to distribute the product can contact IDC for more information.