Calmness incubators using transparent material for acoustic absorbing

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K06611
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Architectural environment/Equipment
• Research Institution: Fukuoka University (2018); Kyushu Institute of Technology (2016-2017)
• Principal Investigator: Anai Ken 福岡大学, 工学部, 教授 (10325467)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 保育器 / 音環境 / 微細穿孔板

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Sound environment in incubators used in perinatal medical spaces such as NICU was measured in actual medical spaces, and was conducted experiments and analyses using actual size model and numerical simulations. After that, the specifications of the micro-perforated panels (MPPs) were examined as transparent sound absorbing material for incubators.
As a result, it was clarified that combining four kinds of MPPs can produce certain effects on the midrange frequencies which were likely to be resonated in the incubator. The sound pressure levels could be reduced by 1 dB to 9 dB depending on the frequency bands.

Free Research Field

建築環境学，環境音響学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究成果は新しい透明な吸音材を医療の現場に適用することを提案したものであり，空間の音場制御手法の選択肢を広げると同時に，これまで重要視されていなかった新生児の音環境を向上させる必要性とその一技術を明らかにすることができた。本研究の開始後，保育器内の静穏性を高める技術の必要性が医療分野の関係者にも認識され始め，結果的に先行研究となった本研究の成果を社会に還元することが強く望まれている。