@misc{10498/30430,
year = {2018},
month = {2},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10498/30430},
abstract = {Background
Preterm infants usually have to spend a long time in an incubator, excessive noise in which can have adverse physiological and psychological effects on neonates. In fact, incubator noise levels typically range from 45 to 70 dB but differences in this respect depend largely on the noise measuring method used. The primary aim of this work was to assess the extent to which noise in an incubator comes from its own fan and how efficiently the incubator can isolate external noise.

Methods
Three different incubator models were characterized for acoustic performance by measuring their internal noise levels in an anechoic chamber, and also for noise isolation efficiency by using a pink noise source in combination with an internal and an external microphone that were connected to an SVAN958 noise analyzer.
Results

The incubators studied produced continuous equivalent noise levels of 53.5–58 dB and reduced external noise by 5.2–10.4 dB.

Conclusions
A preterm infant in an incubator is exposed to noise levels clearly exceeding international recommendations even though such levels usually comply with the limit set in the standard IEC60601-2-19: 2009 (60 dBA) under normal conditions of use.},
publisher = {Elsevier},
keywords = {noise level},
keywords = {neonatal incubator},
keywords = {noise isolation},
title = {Noise level in neonatal incubators: A comparative study of three models},
doi = {10.1016/J.IJPORL.2018.02.013},
author = {Fernández Zacarías, Francisco and Beira Jiménez, Juan Luis and Bustillo Velázquez-Gaztelu, Pedro J. and Hernández Molina, Ricardo and Lubián López, Simón Pedro},
}