This is the world – we need acoustic standards! The Danish Cancer Foundation has concluded that traffic noise can lead to breast cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The Danish Ministry of Environment concludes that 500 Danes die every year because of traffic noise – because of diabetes, stress, and cardiovascular diseases caused by noise. The Danish […]
Healthcare
Our visual focus (part 1) – Ocularcentrism
It is often stated that modern society is overly focused on the visual. But is this true and why is it even important? And when it really comes down to it, aren’t we mainly just visual beings or are we missing something here? We hear it again and again, sentences like: “We are visual creatures,” […]
Acoustic measurements: affects on cognitive testing of patients
To investigate what impact room acoustics have on staff and patients an intervention study with acoustic measurements was done in a dementia clinic in Århus, Denmark. The study was part of a BA project at The Technical University of Denmark[1]. The room that was used for the study was an office where the doctors do […]
Age-related hearing loss and acoustics
Age-related hearing loss affects almost all of us as we age. Good acoustics can promote not just hearing but also the ability to function and well-being. A calm acoustic environment benefits all of us, whatever level of hearing we have, but it is particularly important for those with hearing impairments. The most common cause of […]
American healthcare acoustics research presented at ICA 2019
Healthcare acoustics on the agenda What a privilege to attend ICA this year. Not only were we invited to a concert in the cathedral of Aachen but in the healthcare acoustics session, we had the opportunity to explore research from all over the world. Including 3 American papers on both noise reduction in neonatal care, […]
International Congress on Acoustics 2019
The German Acoustical Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Akustik, DEGA) hosted the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics in the beautiful and historical city of Aachen in September 2019 The technical program included plenary, distinguished, invited, contributed, and poster papers covering all aspects of acoustics. There was also an extensive technical exposition highlighting the latest advances […]
Robot assisting the surgeon in the Operating Room!
One of our editors, Swedish Concept Developer Healthcare, Maria Quinn – had the opportunity to be present during a robot assisting the surgeon in the Operating Room. Here are her thoughts and reflections on the sound environment in such a specialized area. Robotic surgery Robotic surgery, or robot-assisted surgery, allows doctors to perform many types […]
Acoustics affect staff in the OR
Introduction Sustainable working environments include good room acoustics but working in and operation room (OR) can be a challenge. Due to hygiene regulations and demands the surfaces are often hard and reflective and this leads to high sound pressure levels, bad speech clarity and long reverberation times. The Study At Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark […]
Bad acoustics – higher pulse, more medication
Healthcare and sound Some of us have tried to be sick in a hospital – most of us have tried to be relatives to a sick person in a hospital – and all of us have been affected by sound. Sometimes we are aware of it – sometimes we suffer without knowing it. This following […]
Short reverberation time in critical care is not enough
Short reverberation time does not do the whole trick in healthcare facilities, it´s the peaks that will wake the patients up! Out of our comfort zone When we are sick and feel bad – we seem to forget that just opening the door to a hospital makes us out of our comfort zone. Our system […]
