INSIGHT-CPR receives Honorable Mention in Fast Company’s 2026 World Changing Ideas Awards

INSIGHT-CPR is an AI-integrated wearable sensor that detects how blood is flowing to a patient’s heart during CPR, allowing rescuers at the scene of a cardiac arrest to assess and refine their resuscitation techniques in real-time. Backed by a $5.5 million grant from the American Heart Association, the technology is being developed by a global team comprised of experts in cardiac arrest resuscitation, engineering, data science, pre-hospital medicine, product development, and human-centered design.

INSIGHT-CPR is built by rescuers, for the rescuers who will use it. The project draws on multidisciplinary collaboration centered on the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation at the University of Michigan, with teams from Michigan Medicine and the University of Michigan College of Engineering. The Weil Institute's Data Science team is developing INSIGHT-CPR’s integrated neural networks using adult and pediatric cardiac arrest waveform data from Michigan Medicine, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the East Anglian Air Ambulance in the United Kingdom. The College of Engineering is developing the wearable sensor. The Weil Institute's Preclinical Laboratory is testing prototypes of INSIGHT-CPR in a model of cardiac arrest.

Blue Cottage of CannonDesign is facilitating design thinking workshops and developing a go-to-market strategy for commercial launch, while In2Being is providing prototype development and FDA regulatory support. Finally, INSIGHT-CPR’s end users are guiding the design at every stage, from pre-hospital first responders to hospital and air medical teams.

“For other big killers like cancer, we know the patients’ tumor genetics and can tailor their treatments accordingly. But for cardiac arrest, every patient gets the same exact resuscitation protocol regardless of their individual physiology,” said Dr. Hsu. “Our goal is to help rescuers provide personalized CPR so that every patient can have the best chance at survival with good outcomes.”

The 2026 World Changing Ideas highlight 191 outstanding projects across 14 categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters evaluated more than 1,500 entries based on their impact, sustainability, design, creativity, scalability, and ability to improve society.

In September, members of the INSIGHT-CPR team, including co-investigator Ben Bassin, MD, an Innovation Fellow at Blue Cottage of CannonDesign and the Director of Innovation and Technology and faculty member in the Division of Critical Care in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Michigan Medicine and Aaron Call, CannonDesign's Executive Director of Incubate & Launch, will travel to New York City where honorees will be formally recognized as part of Fast Company’s annual Innovation Festival.