The Study of Active Noise Cancellation on Operating Room Incidence Rates
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Background: Elevated noise levels during surgical procedures significantly affect the rates of communication errors and lead to an absence of care. The necessary use of items not limited to surgical tools, monitoring equipment, and human traffic coupled with the reverberated sound waves off of non-porous surgical surfaces directly impact incidence rates on complications and infections as well as categorical reports of staff dissatisfaction. While a myriad of studies identify noise pollutants and their consequences only a few make recommendations to generally decrease only unnecessary volume. The purpose of this research is to implement the newest technology that can individually decrease the amount of ambient background noise during a surgical operation to decrease the adverse side effects of increased decibel levels in operating rooms while still allowing proper communication. Methods: Modern technology has allowed active noise canceling earbuds to excel by utilizing two or more microphones that create an inverted sound wave to refract the external sound. This reduces or fully eliminates external noise. Different models offer different settings that take into account pitch by hertz, decompression and compression rates of surrounding environments, and level of sound by decibels. Results: Research regarding active noise cancellation denote that their physical structure blocks high frequency sound waves, such as ambient mechanical noises, and actively erases lower-frequency sound waves for a total of 20-40dB reduction of an average operating room of 65dB or exceeding 100dB.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
WCHHS - Nursing
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Krisit Brannen
The Study of Active Noise Cancellation on Operating Room Incidence Rates
Background: Elevated noise levels during surgical procedures significantly affect the rates of communication errors and lead to an absence of care. The necessary use of items not limited to surgical tools, monitoring equipment, and human traffic coupled with the reverberated sound waves off of non-porous surgical surfaces directly impact incidence rates on complications and infections as well as categorical reports of staff dissatisfaction. While a myriad of studies identify noise pollutants and their consequences only a few make recommendations to generally decrease only unnecessary volume. The purpose of this research is to implement the newest technology that can individually decrease the amount of ambient background noise during a surgical operation to decrease the adverse side effects of increased decibel levels in operating rooms while still allowing proper communication. Methods: Modern technology has allowed active noise canceling earbuds to excel by utilizing two or more microphones that create an inverted sound wave to refract the external sound. This reduces or fully eliminates external noise. Different models offer different settings that take into account pitch by hertz, decompression and compression rates of surrounding environments, and level of sound by decibels. Results: Research regarding active noise cancellation denote that their physical structure blocks high frequency sound waves, such as ambient mechanical noises, and actively erases lower-frequency sound waves for a total of 20-40dB reduction of an average operating room of 65dB or exceeding 100dB.