In intensive care units, operating theatres, and many other medical settings, noise pollution is a known problem for years: there are constant beeps and alarms – often loud, often unpleasant, and often not requiring for staff to respond immediately. This puts strain on patients, as elevated noise has been proven to impair the recovery process. At the same time, it also hinders the work of medical staff: constant and false alarms increase stress, exhaust attention and reduce the ability to reliably perceive the important signals.

The problem lies not only in the volume of noise, but also in its interaction: important vital and device information is distributed across numerous individual devices. Each device has its own acoustic signal – often difficult to distinguish, hard to locate and with little information content. Many of these sounds seem aggressive or permanently alarming, even when the situation is not critical. It takes medical staff significant time to familiarise themselves with the devices’ sounds and assess how quickly they need to respond.

This is where our idea comes in: the aim is to develop a uniform, modern auditory information and alarm system. This should:

• significantly reduce noise pollution,
• create a clear distinction between alarms and other signals,
• convey relevant information in a comprehensible and intuitive way,
• and at the same time improve the acoustic quality and pleasantness of the signals.

In preparation, we are conducting a feasibility study in collaboration with the Sound Innovation Lab, funded by the IGP (IGP03-0171). The study examines the requirements of potential users and stakeholders for such a system. This involves determining the current status of devices and sounds, identifying the demands placed on medical staff, as well as systematically gathering their wishes and expectations for the system. Based on this, an initial integrated, user-friendly, intelligent and intuitive sound concept will be developed that incorporates the requirements identified and harmonises the signals from different medical devices. It should be characterised by improved distinguishability and localisability of alarms and signals, thereby reducing noise pollution and alarm fatigue in hospitals, increasing patient safety and also supporting the recovery process. As a cross-system element, it should improve the quality of medical care in the long term. It can be used as a connectable hardware extension with integrated loudspeakers, as a software module, or as a licensed collection of optimised device sounds.