Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : July 18, 2024
In a hospital, there are various noises such as the operation by medical equipment and human voices, resulting in a bad sound environment with loud background noise. Alarms are sounded frequently in the presence of loud background noise, which may cause healthcare workers to fail to notice the alarm sounds and lead to medical accidents. On the other hand, if the sound pressure of alarm sounds is louder as a countermeasure, patients may feel the alarm sound uncomfortable. From this situation, it is assumed that the difference in sound quality between the background sound and the alarm sound should be appropriate. In this study, we examine from an acoustics perspective how changing the difference in sound quality between the background noise and the alarm sound affects degree of cognition and comfort of the alarm sound. Based on the results of sound quality evaluation and the analysis of the acoustic characteristics of background noise and alarm sounds, the effects of the difference in the type of alarm sound and background noise on the degree of cognition and comfort of listening to alarm sounds were ascertained.
