CHEST GARMENT WITH INFLUENCE UPON RESPIRATORY MECHANICS AND PULMONARY PERFUSION

摘要

Devices, methods and systems that provide chest compression. The devices and methods may be used in both medical and aerospace applications. The chest garments (1) include fluid-filled thoracic chambers that provide hydrostatic pressure forces onto the thorax (the size of these forces is proportional to the height of the water column over the respective thoracic segment) by a translation of hydrostatic circumferential tension into inward-directed hydrostatic pressure vectors by containing the hydrostatic chambers in a non-distensible external cover that provides a vest with a fixed exterior circumference. The transmission of the pressure in the fluid-filled chamber thus results in a purely inward-directed (towards the body tissues directe) force vector. A compression system may also be provided that includes sleeves (30) with analogous fluid chambers (33).