CPR chest compression system with tonometric input and feedback

A computer-implemented method, for execution by at least one processor in association with a chest compressor and at least one sensor, to provide CPR compressions on a cardiac arrest patent, the method comprising:

• applying a plurality of initial sets of chest compressions on the patient, each of the initial sets of chest compressions being performed according to a distinct chest compression regime, each distinct chest compression regime having chest compression parameters comprising at least one of:
• depth, compression hold time, release time, intercompression pause, and compression rate;
• acquiring, for each of the initial sets of chest compressions, a corresponding CPR-induced time-domain pressure waveform generated using the at least one pressure sensor;
• identifying, for each pressure waveform, one or more parameters of the pressure waveform, the one or more parameters comprising:
• i) a secondary peak, occurring after an initial pressure peak and during a CPR compression hold portion of the pressure waveform, and ii) at least one pressure-time integral magnitude corresponding to at least a portion of the pressure waveform,
• determining whether the identified one or more parameters of each pressure waveform meet one or more predetermined criteria indicative of optimum blood flow;
• identifying which of the initial sets of chest compressions is associated with CPR-induced optimum blood flow, based at least in part on the comparison and determination that both the secondary peak and the pressure-time integral satisfy predetermined effectiveness criteria;
• and
• subsequent to the application of the plurality of initial sets of chest compressions, performing at least one subsequent set of chest compressions according to the chest compression regime of the initial set of chest compressions identified to be associated with optimum blood flow.