Frequency-Selective Silencing Device for Digital Filtering of Audible Medical Alarm Sounds to Enhance ICU Patient Recovery

Abstract

Free-field auditory medical alarms, although widely present in intensive care units, have created many hazards for both patients and clinicians in this environment. The harsh characteristics of the alarm noise profile combined with the frequency at which they sound throughout the ICU have created discomfort for the patients and contribute to psychological problems, such as PTSD and delirium. This frequency-selective silencing device seeks to attenuate these problems by removing the alarm sounds from the patient perspective. Patients do not need to hear these alarms as the alarms primarily serve to alert clinicians; therefore, this device, using a Raspberry Pi and digital filters, removes the alarm sounds present in the environment while transmitting other sounds to the patient without distortion. This allows for patients to hear everything occurring around them and to communicate effectively without experiencing the negative consequences of audible alarms.