LUCAS began as an idea sketched by a Norwegian inventor who had watched paramedics struggle to do CPR in a moving ambulance. It became a product in Lund, Sweden, and is now part of one of the largest medical device companies in the world.
An inventor and a surgeon
The concept is credited to Willy Vistung, a Norwegian inventor, who proposed a gas-driven piston that could take over chest compressions. He brought the idea to Stig Steen, a cardiothoracic surgeon and professor at Lund University in southern Sweden. Vistung died before the design was finished; Steen and Swedish entrepreneur Lars Sunnanväder carried the prototype through to a working device.[1]
Steen’s laboratory tested the device in an artificial chest and in pigs, and reported in 2002 that it produced higher blood flow and pressure than manual compressions. The same paper described the first 20 patients treated with it, and gives a feel for the early machine: gas-powered, 6.5 kg, applied in 10 to 20 seconds, and stable during transport.[2] A company called Jolife AB was set up in Lund to manufacture and sell it.
Timeline
1990s
The idea
Willy Vistung sketches a pneumatic chest compressor and takes it to Stig Steen in Lund.
2000 to 2002
First patients, first paper
The device is used on patients at Lund University Hospital. Steen and colleagues publish the laboratory and early clinical results in Resuscitation in December 2002.[2]
2003
LUCAS 1 goes into ambulances
The first commercial generation, powered by compressed air or oxygen, is deployed in Swedish ambulance services.[1]
2004
Physio-Control becomes the distributor
The American defibrillator maker Physio-Control takes on exclusive distribution of LUCAS, giving the device a route into North American and wider European markets.[3]
2008
The LINC trial starts enrolling
Ambulance services in Sweden, the Netherlands and England begin randomising patients between LUCAS and manual CPR. It will become the largest trial of the device.[4]
June 2009
LUCAS 2: battery power
Jolife launches the second generation in Europe and Canada. Swapping the gas cylinder for a rechargeable battery makes the device far easier to carry and to use for long periods.[5]
March 2011
Physio-Control buys Jolife
After seven years as distributor, Physio-Control acquires Jolife AB outright. Development and manufacturing stay in Lund.[3]
2014 to 2015
The big trials report
LINC is published in JAMA and PARAMEDIC in The Lancet. Neither finds a survival advantage over manual CPR. Guidelines stop short of recommending routine use.[4][6]
2016
Stryker, and LUCAS 3
Stryker Corporation buys Physio-Control for 1.28 billion US dollars, bringing LUCAS into its emergency care division. The same year, the third generation is released with data logging and easier maintenance.[7]
2018
Version 3.1
A firmware and hardware update adds adjustable rate and depth, wireless reporting and configurable alerts. It remains the current model.[8]
Why the name
LUCAS is an acronym for Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System. It is also, conveniently, a first name, which is probably why it stuck. The device is sometimes written LUCAS-2 or LUCAS 2 in research papers; the manufacturer now writes the version as “LUCAS 3, v3.1”.
Sources
- LUCAS device. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LUCAS_device (accessed September 2026). Used for the inventor attribution and early deployment dates; see the article’s own references for primary sources.
- Steen S, Liao Q, Pierre L, Paskevicius A, Sjöberg T. Evaluation of LUCAS, a new device for automatic mechanical compression and active decompression resuscitation. Resuscitation. 2002;55(3):285–299. doi:10.1016/s0300-9572(02)00271-x
- Physio-Control purchases chest compression system maker. Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology, March 2011. dicardiology.com
- Rubertsson S, Lindgren E, Smekal D, et al. Mechanical chest compressions and simultaneous defibrillation vs conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: the LINC randomized trial. JAMA. 2014;311(1):53–61. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.282538
- LUCAS2 chest compression system launched in Europe, Canada. Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology, June 2009. dicardiology.com
- Perkins GD, Lall R, Quinn T, et al. Mechanical versus manual chest compression for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (PARAMEDIC): a pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial. The Lancet. 2015;385(9972):947–955. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61886-9
- Stryker Corporation. Form 8-K exhibit 99.1, 2016: agreement to acquire Physio-Control International for 1.28 billion US dollars. sec.gov
- Stryker. New LUCAS 3 Chest Compression System, version 3.1: data sheet (commercially available mid-2018). stryker.com (PDF)