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 […]
speech clarity
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 […]
Designing out “Chinook” flutter echoes in speech communication rooms
In September, it was a pleasure to present a work in progress “Optimising the acoustic design for a multi-purpose room used for speech communication activities” at ICA 2019 in Aachen. One of our inhouse head office rooms recently remodelled to accommodate a mixture of training functions. The sound environment for a room designed for speech […]
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, […]
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 […]
Better speech communication and learning in the classroom
At this years Transitions18 Education research seminar in Copenhagen, Viveka Årlander Lyberg Associate Professor at Lund University, presented the latest developments around Suvi Karjulainen’s PhD “Better communication and learning in the classroom”. This unique and applied study around the quality of speech communication for teachers and students also links to the investigation of the classroom […]
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 […]
Free Field Conditions at Gentofte Hospital
Intervention study in an audiology department As part of the course ‘Architectural Acoustics’ at DTU – Technical University of Denmark, four students (Tobias Thydal, Vamsy Maddipati, Kat Herlo Benfelt Jensen and Christian Pedersen) chose to do an intervention study at the audiology department at Gentofte Hospital near Copenhagen in Denmark. The primary scope of the project […]
New report finds that children with reading difficulties need to screened for hearing problems
A recent report by Coventry University has been highlighted by the Nuffield Foundation and links reading difficulties with hearing impairments. The Nuffield article writes: “The researchers believe that if there was more awareness of youngsters’ hearing problems – as well as an understanding of what particular aspects of literacy they struggled with – then the […]
Modular operating rooms – how do they really sound?
Modular operating rooms Building a hospital is a complex task to do and especially operating rooms can be a challenge. The functionality of the room has to be ‘spotless’ as well as the cleanliness. In a lot of projects – both new buildings and renovations – modular operation rooms are used to secure a short, […]
