OCE and Atreo provide the upper hand in giving CPR   |  November 19, 2008  

CPRGlove to better survival rates for 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in North America annually

If someone suddenlycollapsed in front of you clutching their chest, would you know what to do? Would you calmly and confidently perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), knowing it requires 100 compressions a minute to a depth of five centimetres? It’s unlikely, and yet proper technique can be the difference between life and death.

To instil that confidenceand ensure CPR is performed correctly, Hamilton’s Atreo Medical Inc. has invented the CPRGlove™– a portable device that gives any user a better chance at saving a life.

Developed with support from the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), the CPRGlove is equipped with sensors and verbally instructs the user on correct hand placement as well as the depth, rate, force and angle of compressions to be given. It even reminds the user to check the heart rate and contact 911. Picture it becoming a standard component of first-aid kits in shopping malls, sports arenas, recreational centres, nursing homes and other facilities.

Featured in Time magazine’s 2007 “Best Inventions of the Year” and in Popular Science magazine’s 2007 “Top Ten Inventions of the Year”, the CPRGlove was designed by Corey Centen, Nilesh Patel and Sarah Smith.

The three McMaster University electrical and biomedical engineering graduates realized that when CPR was needed, most people relied on training they received in high school. They also realized that to turn their invention into a marketable product, they would need help.

They chose to showcase their invention at OCE’s Discovery conference which attracts the province’s leading investors and entrepreneurs. There they were introduced to an OCE business development manager, which led to OCE providing Atreo with an investment from its Market Readiness Initiative. This enabled the start-up to focus on product development and pursue a contract with a design and manufacturing partner.

“OCE support has been instrumental,” said Smith, Atreo’s Chief Operating Officer. “We believed from the beginning we had a marketworthy product and OCE shares that vision.”

To further support that vision, OCE recently named Atreo as one of the first recipients of its Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF), providing an investment of $500,000. The IAF will accelerate the process of moving the CPRGlove to market, complete all regulatory approvals and encourage follow-on investment.

“OCE programs and resources gave us the opportunity to conduct market analysis, develop a business plan and start the patent protection process,” continued Smith. “We look forward to working with OCE in the future, as our invention enters the marketplace.”

With the CPRGlove available to the public as well as rescue professionals, thousands of lives could be saved thanks to a helping hand developed in Ontario.

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“OCE programs and resources gave us the opportunity to conduct market analysis, develop a business plan and start the patent protection process. We look forward to working with OCE in the future, as our invention enters the marketplace.”

Sarah Smith
Chief Operating Officer
Atreo Medical Inc.

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Ontario Centres of Excellence
Centre of Excellence for Communications and Information Technology


For more information, please contact: Sean McNeely, Manager, Communications and Media Relations, OCE Inc. (416) 861.1092 x1034