Sudden cardiac death (SCD) constitutes a major clinical and public health problem, whose death burden is comparable to the current worldwide pandemic. This comprehensive review encompasses the following topics: available rescue systems, wearable electrocardiograms (ECG), detection and transmission technology, and a newly developed fuzzy logic algorithm (FA) for heart rhythm classification which is state-of-the art in the field of SCD prevention. Project "PROTECTOR", the Polish Rapid Transtelephonic ECG to Obtain Resuscitation for development of a rapid rescue system for patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), is presented. If a lethal arrhythmia is detected on the basis of FA, the system produces an alarm signal audible for bystanders and transmits the alarm message along with location to the emergency medical center. Phone guided resuscitation can be started immediately because an automated external defibrillator (AED) localization map is available. An automatic, very fast diagnosis is a unique feature of the PROTECTOR prototype. The rapid detection of SCA is based on a processor characterized by 100% sensitivity and 97.8% specificity (as measured in the pilot studies). An integrated circuit which implements FA has already been designed and a diagnosis is made within few seconds, which is extremely important in ischemic brain damage prophylaxis. This circuit could be implemented in smart implants (Sis).
Keywords: artificial intelligence; cardiopulmonary resuscitation; detection algorithms; electrocardiogram (ECG); fuzzy logic; ischemic brain damage; out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; prevention; sudden cardiac arrest; sudden cardiac death.