Biomechanical response of human rib cage to cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers: Effects of the compression location

The biomechanical response of a human rib cage to cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers was investigated by means of finite element simulations. We analyzed the effect of the location where the force was applied on the achieved compression depths and stress levels experienced by the breastbone and ribs. For compression locations on the breastbone, a caudal shift of the application area toward the breastbone tip resulted in a 17% reduction of the force required to achieve a target 5 cm compression depth. We found that the use of compression regions located on the costal cartilages would involve higher risk of rib fractures.