Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Ultrasonographic Assessment During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Published on: October 24, 2020
Evaluation of the thoracic compression technique using APPs. Do they help or hinder cardiopulmonary resuscitation?
F Fernández-Méndez1, R Barcala-Furelos2, M Otero-Agra3
1Escuela de Enfermería de Pontevedra, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Pontevedra, España; REMOSS Grupo de Investigación en Rendimiento y Motricidad del Salvamento y Socorrismo, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación y el Deporte, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Pontevedra, España; CLINURSID Grupo de Investigación de la Facultad de Enfermería, Facultad de Enfermería, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña, España.
Objective:
To evaluate the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by lay people when guided by a mobile phone application with real-time feedback, with the comparison of three different mobile phone applications (APPs).
Design:
A cross-sectional quasi-experimental study was carried out.
Participants:
A sample of 113 nursing students participated in the study.
Interventions:
Three hands-only CPR tests with continuous compressions were performed: (i)without external help; (ii)with the mobile phone turned off; and (iii)guided by APP. Three different APPs were randomly assigned (Pocket CPR®, CPR Pro®> and Massage cardiaque et DSA®). The mannequin Laerdal Resusci Anne QCPR (Stavanger, Norway) 2.0.0.14 software was used.
Variables Of Primary Interest:
APPs used. Demographic variables characterizing the study sample.
Independent Variables:
mean depth, mean rate, percentage of correct hand positioning, percentage of compressions with correct re-expansion, percentage of compressions with correct depth, percentage of compressions at the correct rate, and overall quality of CPR.
Results:
Overall CPR quality was 33.3% ± 32.7 using Pocket CPR, 10.9% ± 22.72% using CPR Pro and 7.8% ± 9.2 using Massage cardiaque et DSA. None of the APPs produced a statistically significant improvement. The percentage of time that the resuscitator managed to maintain a correct compression rate improved when using all three APPs.
Conclusions:
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation guided by phone APPs did not improve the overall quality of compressions during resuscitation, though it improved the percentage of compressions performed at the correct rate.
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Thoracic Aorta

