Students from Michigan Technological University have designed and developed a breakthrough in medical care that could save lives in a heartbeat.

They devised a mattress that facilitates faster and more effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and they're working to put it on the open market.

The invention addresses a longstanding and critical problem: A standard hospital mattress, with six or more inches of foam, is pliable and cushiony. Pushing down to administer CPR is like pushing on a big sponge the force goes into the mattress and not the body lying on it.

A team of Michigan Tech students came up with a simple solution: Push a button, suck the air out of the foam, and make it firm. Some tubing, a little motor, and a vacuum pump work the magic. It takes just ten seconds to work.

The measure of their success? With a standard mattress, only 43 percent of the CPR load winds up reaching the heart; with a board underneath the mattress, that rises to 52 percent; and with the Michigan Tech students' design, it leaps to 81 percent.

Another team of Michigan Tech students has founded a company and is working to get this mattress into hospitals, especially in emergency rooms. The students expect to have a patent by September 2009. They are talking with a number of companies that have experience bringing medical products to market.