PraCiMA: A Training System for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Procedure

The cardiopulmonary arrest is responsible for a large amount of deaths. It is imperative that the resuscitation procedure gets performed promptly and efficiently. Such procedure is known as CPR. If the CPR procedure is not applied correctly it may aggravate the patient condition, which easily leads to death. CPR training is, henceforth, extremely important in order to ensure a proper CPR procedure that always improves the patient condition. Nowadays, CPR training is performed in custom built manikins, which allows one to get used to the right pressure to be performed. The system also requires an experienced instructor, which monitors and observes the individual under training. Such instructor keeps track of the frequency of thorax compression performed, as well as the proper posture adopted. Such setup gets expensive and slow-growing, as there must be one instructor for each and every student, as it is not possible for a student to self-evaluate his/her performance. Aiming at improving this scenario we developed PraCIMA, a training system for CPR procedure which allows a student to get automatic and precise feedback. The system uses a Wii Fit Balance Board to keep track of frequency, pressure as well as the angle in which the user performs the pressure. The system them parses all the information and plots a graphical output that intuitively shows how the user is performing, allowing for on-the-fly posture correction and self-evaluation, allowing him/her to improve his skills. An instructor now can follow several students at once. This work introduces the PraCiMA system, it components, the way it works as well as its contribution to CPR training.