Sudden Cardiac Arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any
time. When it happens, HeartSine® Technologies can help make the
difference between life and death. Since 1998, HeartSine has been
designing, developing and manufacturing Automated External
Defibrillators for the lay, minimally trained rescuer who is often
first at the scene. Used in over 32 countries, these reliable,
easy-to-use devices are the best way to prepare for the worst.
Keen to ensure its product, the samaritan® Public Access
Defibrillator (PAD) always remains at the top of its market and
incorporates the very latest features, engineers at HeartSine
selected the FT245R programmable Serial to USB device as an
essential element of the design - allowing them to plug the unit
into a computer, download data on patient incidents and upgrade the
unit as and when required. Technically advanced, the FT245R
is a single chip USB to parallel FIFO bidirectional data transfer
interface. The entire USB protocol is handled on the chip and no
USB-specific firmware programming is required.
Supplied by Alpha Micro, whose expert team of in-house
design engineers work with developers to help integrate components
from its franchised product lines into board-level designs, the
chip is pre-programmed with software developed by HeartSine before
being shipped to the circuit board manufacturer. The FTI245R
adds a new function compared with its predecessors, effectively
making it a "2-in-1" chip for some application areas. A
unique number (the FTDIChip-ID™) is burnt into the device during
manufacture and is readable over USB, thus forming the basis of a
security dongle which can be used to protect customer application
software from being copied.
Commenting on the development, Allister McIntyre, Senior Design
Engineer said, "This programmable USB has enabled us to keep our
product 100% up to date with minimal development costs. It was our
first foray into USB applications and Alpha Micro's team of highly
trained electronic design engineers were able to give us excellent
advice on which component would best meet our design criteria."
The HeartSine® samaritan® PAD is compact, lightweight and easy
to use. From "Pull the green tab to remove pads" to "Press
the orange shock button now" - audio and visual prompts guide the
user step-by-step through the rescue process. HeartSine®
samaritan® PAD uses HeartSine's innovative PAD-Pak which
incorporates the battery and electrodes in a single use
cartridge.
The latest HeartSine® samaritan® PAD with CPR Advisor SAM
500P is the most innovative device available to support users
during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The SAM
500P will reassure the user they are performing "Good Compressions"
or advise them to "Push Harder", "Push Faster", or "Push
Slower".
The SAM 500P uses an Impedance Cardiogram (ICG) to guide the
user. An ICG measures changes in blood volume within the
chest cavity to determine effective CPR. Events are recorded,
with the time, date, electrocardiograph (ECG) trace and duration,
shock delivery information and CPR intervals and data can be
downloaded to a PC using the SAVER® EVO software.
Concluding Christos Papakyriacou, Managing Director, Alpha Micro
said, "Product development is an expensive and often lengthy
process. Utilising programmable components such as the FT245R
USB enables software upgrades to be downloaded to the device in a
matter of seconds. This is key when maximising investment in
critical medical technology such as HeartSine's samaritan® PAD.
