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అందరికి ప్రవేశం

నైరూప్య

Noise-reducing Insert for NICU Incubator

Sophia Makepeace*

Premature infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are at risk for hearing impairment, cognitive development abnormalities, and intraventricular hemorrhaging due to high noise levels. Nearly 400,000 infants are admitted into the NICU in the United States each year, and this number continues to increase. Up to 10% of these preterm infants are diagnosed with hearing impairment in comparison to only .1% for the general pediatric population. Noises from the CPAP machine and other life-sustaining devices along with external human noise in the NICU, sound levels average around 62 dB and can reach up to 120 dB. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends noise levels should be lower than 45 dB. Existing incubators on the market do not address this noise issue. The designed solution is to create an adjustable foam insert that can be fitted to any incubator and used for sound absorption. The foam would line the edges of the incubator to reduce resonance and allow for neonatologists still to have full vision of the inside of the incubator. Additionally, the design contains a bottom piece that perfectly fits a Z-flow device so that the infants can be positioned for maximum health. This design was modeled in Solidworks, and various geometries were tested to improve the design’s effectiveness. Two foams were tested, and a statistical t-test was used to determine which foam had better noise reduction. In comparison to having no foam present in the chamber, the noise level was reduced by over 15 dB. The combination of this foam along with a multi-channel Active Noise Control system would significantly reduce noise levels to below the acceptable limit. This system would consist of one reference microphone that picks up noise, two error microphones to sense residual noise, and two loudspeakers to generate the “anti-noise” signal. Ultimately, this foam insert was found to reduce noise levels so that they are under the recommended limit given by the American Academy of Pediatrics.