Key Researcher
Keith Lurie, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lurie has received multiple National Institutes of Health and Defense Department grant awards and is an inventor of multiple different technologies. He founded Advanced Circulatory Systems in 1997 and remains Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Lurie served on the American Heart Association Basic Life Support subcommittee from 1998-2007. He co-founded Take Heart America in 2005.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Each day approximately 2,000 Americans will die from cardiac arrest. Half of these deaths will occur before the person is able to make it to the hospital. The remaining cardiac arrest deaths will happen while the person is in transit to the hospital or in the hospital. Even when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is administered, cardiac arrest results in a profound state of shock to the body. Keeping blood flowing until the heart is restarted is critical to survival and reducing neurological damage.
HHRI researcher Keith Lurie wants to reduce the number of deaths from cardiac arrest and improve health outcomes by improving the way CPR is administered to cardiac arrest patients. He is an expert on cardiac arrest and has spent years studying the cardiopulmonary system. His work is changing the way that CPR is administered worldwide.
CPR has changed little in the past 50 years, despite the increased understanding of the cardiopulmonary system. The lack of innovation troubled Dr. Lurie, and early in his career he began studying the cardiopulmonary system, seeking ways to improve how it is administered.
One of his fundamental discoveries is what he calls “the other side of breathing.” Dr. Lurie found that the movements of the lungs and thorax not only move air in and out of the body but also help to move blood around the body. Armed with this knowledge, he created a device called the ResQPOD to aid and improve CPR.
The ResQPOD is a non-invasive device that uses proprietary technology to increase the body’s circulation by regulating air flow into the lungs during the chest wall recoil (or decompression) phase of CPR. The device does not require the use of pharmaceutical or mechanical agents to improve the body’s biophysical performance. The ResQPOD’s patented technology consists of a small polycarbonate device that selectively impedes inspiration during breathing. When inspiration is selectively impeded, the body responds by enhancing circulation through increased blood flow volume, cardiac output and systolic blood pressure.
In multiple preclinical investigations and seven different published clinical studies with patients in cardiac arrest, the new device has been shown to significantly increase blood return to the heart and blood flow to the vital organs during CPR.
The ResQPOD along with other concepts from Dr. Lurie’s research have changed how professionals around the world administer CPR. He is working very hard to promote his innovations so that all cardiac arrest patients can benefit from his research. He has started a company to manufacture and distribute the ResQPOD and is seeking funding sources to advance his cardiopulmonary research.
Key Researcher
Keith Lurie, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lurie has received multiple National Institutes of Health and Defense Department grant awards and is an inventor of multiple different technologies. He founded Advanced Circulatory Systems in 1997 and remains Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Lurie served on the American Heart Association Basic Life Support subcommittee from 1998-2007. He co-founded Take Heart America in 2005.