While developments in medical device technology improve clinical monitoring by incorporating more sensitive features, they also lead to high ICU noise levels due to the increased number of alarms. This study seeks to understand the effect of critical alarms from various medical devices, such as patient monitors, infusion pumps, and mechanical ventilators, on overall sound pressure levels and existing noise metrics in the Adult ICU of Erasmus Medical Center. The study was conducted for ten days, during which two patients were admitted, and their usual care routines were maintained. A calibrated class II sound level meter was positioned above the patient’s head to continuously record acoustical data in one of the single-patient ICU rooms. Acoustic parameters, including LAf, LCPeak, LAeq, were measured, and alarm logs were retrieved from the alarm management database. Patient monitor alarms were also analyzed by severity, as different alarms have distinct acoustic characteristics. Initial findings indicate that equivalent sound pressure levels exceed recommended thresholds, however, with only a limited contribution of alarms. Future research should focus on a more comprehensive and human-centered acoustic characterization of this critical environment, so that relevant associations between health outcomes and sound environment can be made.

Soundscape is a recent notion, complementary to environmental noise control. It regards the total auditory experience of the acoustic environment based on descriptors ranging from pleasant to annoying, and from eventful to uneventful. This approach is used outdoors, but indoors too, for example in offices and hospitals. In Intensive Care Units (ICUs) many specific dominant sounds are prevalent; not only permanently active medical equipment such as ventilators, dialysis machines, but also alarms, and conversations by staff members. In such cases a special instance of the soundscape tool is required. The current work focuses on the processing and analysis of 24h long acoustic sets of sound data, collected continuously in the Adult ICU at Erasmus Medical Center. In addition to standard noise metrics like equivalent, peak sound levels and statistical indices, this research explores alternative measures such as restorative periods, fast rises, traffic noise index (TNI) and more metrics based on distributional variables. By adapting metrics from the realm of environmental noise to the ICU context, this work aims to provide a more comprehensive characterization of the acoustic environment. These insights will also facilitate relationships with qualitative soundscape descriptors to be collected in later stages of the project.