Patent Application
20200365171
The present disclosure is in the field of sound measurement. More particularly, the present disclosure measures sound levels at various points within a coverage area, makes adjustments to measurements, and issues a heat map based on an estimate of quietness for the coverage area.
Hospitals are sensitive to minimizing noise in patient areas including patient rooms, intensive care wards, and operating room areas. Research indicates that patient experience is highly correlated to the level of noise experienced by patients during hospital stays.
Some public agencies use the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey to reliably measure satisfaction. The survey contains at least one question about hospital quietness and is regarded as an important element of patient satisfaction.
Hospitals use best practices to manage noise levels including designating some areas within the hospital as quiet areas. Hospital staff is trained to ensure minimum levels of noise for the benefit of patient satisfaction which may lead to better hospital rankings. Good rankings have a direct relationship with HCAHPS scoring and consequently higher reimbursements from Medicare.
While noise management is important to hospitals, hospitals often lack tools to reliably assess levels of quiet and implement actions toward improvement. The healthcare market needs solutions allowing for automatic and reliable noise level measurement within designated hospital areas.
Previous implementations are mature and have been used extensively on construction sites and along highways where noise levels may be harmful. In the prior art, devices for measuring noise levels include the SPL 8810 provided by American Recorder Technologies which is depicted in
Other well-known methods in the prior art include the use of smartphone applications such at NIOSH Sound Level Meter and Decibel X apps. These methods rely on smartphone audio circuitry and software to measure noise levels to record or display sound data.
Sound measurement technology may also be integrated at a module level and made available to manufacturers to develop sound meters in various form factors. Such modules may be readily available from hardware manufacturers and can be procured from firms such as Digi-Key Corporation. Significant test equipment is also available that allows for measurement and analysis of sound levels.
Implementations in the prior art do not solve the problems presented by the hospital scenario. The previous implementations have been based on a single device or sensor that helps analyze a noise level at a single location with the assistance of a user operating the device.
Systems and methods described herein provide for capturing sound levels at various locations within a coverage area and applying techniques to determine an overall estimate of quietness for the area. In a healthcare environment, a coverage area may be a patient room in a hospital where it is important to minimize noise level.
Sound sensors are placed in various locations in the patient room. Sound levels are periodically taken by each sensor and transmitted to a computer. The computer analyzes the received sound levels and determines an estimate of quietness for the patient room. If the estimate of quietness exceeds a predetermined threshold, an alert may be generated. Action may be thereby prompted to reduce noise levels in and around the patient's room.
Sound sensors may be located in ceiling and other areas of a patient's room.
But noise specialists are interested in noise levels specifically at the patient's location in the room, in his/her bed in most cases, perhaps eight feet lower than the level of the ceiling. Sound levels captured by sensors embedded into the ceiling and other locations away from the ceiling are therefore inaccurate and are subject to adjustment.
Distances are calculated between sound sensors and the occupant's usual location in the coverage area. In the case of a hospital patient, the area of the patient's head on the hospital bed would be the location of interest. The distance between the sensor and this location is calculated and used as a calibration factor. This factor is applied to sound measurements taken at the particular sensor to compensate for the sensor's distance from the patient's ear.
A patient room might for example have three sensors attached to the ceiling at distances of 8, 13, and 16 feet from the point where the patient's head rests on the bed. Sound measurements at each of these sensors are adjusted for their respective distances from the patient.
The sound measurements for a coverage area, having received adjustments, are then averaged or subjected to other statistical techniques, with the resulting estimate of quietness produced. A heat map may be generated from this process.
Turning to the figures,
Discussion about one of the sound sensors 110a-c applies to all sound sensors 110a-c unless otherwise specifically stated. While three of sound sensors 110a-c are depicted as part of system 100, in embodiments more than or fewer than three of sound sensors 110a-c may be in effect.
The server 102 is a computer system that may be local to the coverage area or may be remote therefrom. The server 102 hosts the application 104 that performs many of the inventive actions described herein.
In an embodiment, more than one physical computer may function in the role of the server 102. In an embodiment, the application 104 may execute on more than one instance of the server 102. In an embodiment, more than one instance of the application 104 may be executing on the at least one instance of the server 102.
The Internet 106 is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link devices worldwide. The 4G Router 108 is a networking device to speed the transmission of data from the sound sensors 110a-c to the server 102. The Internet 106 and the 4G Router 108 are optional components and not necessary when the server 102 is local to the coverage area 112. The sound sensors 110a-c may send sound data to the server 102 using various technologies including WiFI, Bluetooth, and Zwave.
Sound sensors 110a-c may be installed within the patient bed or bracelet as close as possible to the patient ears to provide a good measurement of the noise experienced by the patient.
The server 102 uses measurements of noise level to derive statistics, analytics, and notifications. The server 102 has knowledge of the location of each sensor 110a-c and estimates the sound level received by the patient. The server 102 creates a heat map describing sound levels in the coverage area 112.
The server 102 further calculates key performance indicators such as average sound level, medium sound level, peak sound level, and standard deviation of sound to provide measurable statistical for the estimate of quietness. Such measured parameters may be used by management of a hospital to take action and support quiet environments for patients.
Measured data may be averaged over time or shown as a function of location and time. Quietness may be visualized as a function of location or time. Thresholds may be set by hospital management to send notifications to appropriate personnel when noise levels exceed thresholds. Hospital management may use measured data to derive statistics about quietness and put in place corrective measures such as rewarding or penalizing staff for their efforts in managing noise and for redesigning coverage area 112 for better sound isolation and absorption.
As noted, calibration techniques may be used to adjust for situations in which sound sensors 110a-c are distant from the occupant's usual position in the coverage area 112. A correction factor Cf is the difference in measurement of sound at a sensor 110a and measurement of the same sound at the location of the patient. The sound level at the sensor 110a is adjusted using the correction factor Cf to arrive at a sound level as the patient would experience it. Radio and sound engineering professionals are skilled in the art of measuring signal and sound propagation as well as creating radio frequency and sound coverage maps. Such professionals may use a variety of techniques to accurately calculate calibration factors and estimate noise levels at various distances from a source of noise or from a receiver of noise.
