Acoustic Study of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Preliminary Results

The acoustic environment of a typical neonatal intensive care unit is very rich and may contain a large number of different sounds, which reflect the activities taking place in it. There exists a medical concern about the effect of that acoustical environment on a preterm, since loud or particular sounds may be harmful for the preterm’s further neurological development. In the reported work, an audio database of ten acoustic scenarios was recorded using two microphones, one inside and the other outside the incubator. Preliminary results of the acoustical analysis of sounds are presented along with the experiments on automatic detection of the presence of vocalizations.