RT journal article
T1 Silent Neonatal Incubators, Prototype Nica+
A1 Hernández Molina, Ricardo
A1 Puyana Romero, Virginia
A1 Beira Jiménez, Juan Luis
A1 Morgado Estévez, Arturo
A1 Bienvenido Bárcena, Rafael
A1 Fernández Zacarías, Francisco
A2 Ingeniería Eléctrica
A2 Ingeniería en AutomáticaElectrónica, Arquitectura y Redes de Computadores
A2 Ingeniería Mecánica y Diseño Industrial
A2 Máquinas y Motores Térmicos
K1 neonates
K1 sound pressure
K1 incubator
K1 noise source
K1 NICU
K1 infants
AB Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the noise levelsin current incubator models and a prototype designed to improve acoustic comfort in neonatalincubators. Methods: Tests were carried out on three different models of incubators and a prototypecalled Neonatal Incubator Acoustic Comfort Class (NICA). The tests measured both internal andexternal sound pressure levels under laboratory conditions. The noise index has been taken asthe A-weighted equivalent continuous sound pressure level (LAeq,T) for a time interval of 1 min.Results: The results obtained show variations between the different models of incubators, although,overall, they are high values (around 56/60 dBA). The results prove that premature newbornsunder normal conditions of using these incubators are exposed to noise levels above internationalrecommendations. The new incubator design minimizes noise generation and generates noise levelslower than international recommendations. Conclusions: The results obtained from the prototype(NICA+) show the effectiveness of the proposed design in improving acoustic comfort in neonatalincubators. The data show that the noise levels generated by the prototype under normal operatingconditions are significantly lower than international recommendations.
PB Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute MDPI
SN 2624-599X
YR 2024
FD 2024-07-15
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/33001
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/33001
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-may-2026