Vibroacoustic Study in the Neonatal Ward

Abstract

Neonatal wards are often subject to excessive noise pollution. Noise pollution encompasses two concepts, noise and vibration; their main difference being that a noise is heard and a vibration is felt in the body. The latter is what can be transmitted within the incubators of neonatal inpatients. This fact needs to be explored in depth. This work shows the results of the diagnosis of vibrations transmitted within the incubators that could affect neonates admitted to the neonatal unit of the Francesc de Borja University Hospital (Gandía, Spain). For this purpose, the vibrations reaching the neonate head resting area were recorded, taking into account different points, scenarios, days, and time slots. It could be observed that due to the incubator’s motor position, the levels obtained in some scenarios measured in this study exceeded the regulation-specified levels. The conclusion is that the greatest influence on vibrations is the incubator’s own motor, with other possible sources of vibrations, such as the room’s air conditioning, having less influence. Further studies are needed to determine whether this vibration is harmful or beneficial to the neonate.