STERNAL FORCE-DISPLACEMENT RELATIONSHIP DURING CARDIOPULMONARY-RESUSCITATION

A viscoelastic model is presented to describe the dynamic response of the human chest to cyclic loading during manual cardiopulmonary resusc itation (CPR). Sternal force and displacement were measured during 16 clinical resuscitation attempts and during compressions on five CPR tr aining manikins. The model was developed to describe the clinical data and consists of the parallel combination of a spring and dashpot. The human chests' elastic and damping properties were both augmented with increasing displacement. The manikins' elastic properties were stiffe r and both elastic and damping properties were less dependent on displ acement than the humans'.