Pre-processing techniques for improved detection of vocalization sounds in a neonatal intensive care unit

The sounds occurring in the noisy acoustical environment of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are thought to affect the growth and neurodevelopment of preterm infants. Automatic sound detection in a NICU is a novel and challenging problem, and it is an essential step in the investigation of how preterm infants react to auditory stimuli of the NICU environment. In this paper, we present our work on an automatic system for detection of vocalization sounds, which are extensively present in NICUs. The proposed system reduces the presence of irrelevant sounds prior to detection. Several pre-processing techniques are compared, which are based on either spectral subtraction or non-negative matrix factorization, or a combination of both. The vocalization sounds are detected from the enhanced audio signal using either generative or discriminative classification models. An audio database acquired in a real-world NICU environment is used to assess the performance of the detection system in terms of frame-level missing and false alarm rates. The inclusion of the enhancement pre-processing step leads to up to 17.54% relative improvement over the baseline.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Efectividad de la acupuntura en la hipogalactia y en la inflamación mamaria. Revisión bibliográfica

Objetivo: Determinar la efectividad de la acupuntura en el tratamiento de la hipogalactia y de la inflamación mamaria; mapear los puntos de aplicación y las técnicas utilizadas. Metodología: Revisión bibliográfica efectuada en las bases de datos PubMed, Cinahl, Cuiden, Scielo, Lilacs, Dialnet, Latindex, Cuidatge, WorldCat y Google Académico. Resultados: Se incluyeron 10 estudios; 7 observaron una mayor producción láctea o una prolongación en el tiempo de la lactancia; 2 evaluaron la efectividad de la acupuntura en la inflamación mamaria, y constataron un rápido alivio sintomático y un menor uso de antibióticos. No se ha encontrado unanimidad en la selección de la técnica y de los puntos para los diferentes tratamientos con acupuntura. Conclusión: La acupuntura parece ser efectiva para aumentar la producción láctea y mejorar los síntomas mamarios. Dada la falta de consenso en la selección de puntos y en las técnicas empleadas para los diferentes tratamientos con acupuntura, se requieren más estudios para poder generalizar estos tratamientos en la práctica clínica

A knowledge-based approach to automatic detection of equipment alarm sounds in a neonatal intensive care unit environment

A large number of alarm sounds triggered by biomedical equipment occur frequently in the noisy environment of a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and play a key role in providing healthcare. In this paper, our work on the development of an automatic system for detection of acoustic alarms in that difficult environment is presented. Such automatic detection system is needed for the investigation of how a preterm infant reacts to auditory stimuli of the NICU environment and for an improved real-time patient monitoring. The approach presented in this paper consists of using the available knowledge about each alarm class in the design of the detection system. The information about the frequency structure is used in the feature extraction stage and the time structure knowledge is incorporated at the post-processing stage. Several alternative methods are compared for feature extraction, modelling and post-processing. The detection performance is evaluated with real data recorded in the NICU of the hospital, and by using both frame-level and period-level metrics. The experimental results show that the inclusion of both spectral and temporal information allows to improve the baseline detection performance by more than 60%Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Comparación ambiental en dos salas de cuidados intensivos neonatales de tercer nivel

Les Unitats de Cures Intensives Neonatals (UCIN) de tercer nivell solen estar afectades d'elevada contaminació acústica. L'objectiu era quantificar mitjançant un estudi observacional la intensitat de soroll en dues sales UCIN, sales A i B, destinades a nounats a terme i a prematurs, respectivament. Les mesures de soroll van efectuar-se simultàniament a les sales mitjançant sensors sense fils durant 24 hores en 4 dies. Les fluctuacions de soroll continu van ser inferiors a 5dB produint-se uns màxims de soroll transitori a la nit i aconseguint-se valors més elevats en sala A. El soroll a les sales sobrepassa els límits internacionalment recomanats.Las Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales (UCIN) de tercer nivel suelen estar afectadas de elevada contaminación acústica. El objetivo fue cuantificar mediante un estudio observacional, la intensidad de ruido en dos salas UCIN, salas A y B, destinadas a neonatos a término y a prematuros, respectivamente. Las medidas de ruido se efectuaron simultáneamente en ambas salas mediante sensores inalámbricos durante 24h en 4 días. Las fluctuaciones de ruido continuo fueron inferiores a 5dB produciéndose máximos de ruido transitorio por la noche y alcanzándose valores más elevados en sala A. El ruido en ambas salas sobrepasó los límites internacionalmente recomendados

Aromatherapy in postpartum and puerperium: a systematic, evidence-based review

IntroducciónEl abandono temprano de la lactancia materna está estrechamente relacionado con el cansancio y la depresión postparto. Los efectos secundarios de los fármacos han llevado a una elevada demanda por parte de las usuarias de terapias naturales como alternativa.ObjetivosConocer los efectos de la aromaterapia en madres postparto en relación a su estado de ánimo y su repercusión sobre la lactancia.Material y métodosRevisión bibliográfica con búsquedas en las bases de datos Medline; Pubmed; Cochrane; LILACS; Google Académico; Web of Science, entre los años 2006 y 2017.ResultadosSe obtuvieron un total de 6 ensayos clínicos, dos de los cuales fueron no-aleatorizados. Todos ellos tuvieron en común la aplicación de aceite esencial de lavanda en madres en periodo postparto y evaluaron el estado de ánimo antes y después de la aplicación del tratamiento.ConclusionesNo se halló ningún estudio que relacionase la aromaterapia con la lactancia materna, pero todos concluyeron que el aceite esencial puede ser un tratamiento preventivo de la depresión postparto.IntroductionThe early abandonment of breastfeeding is closely related to tiredness and postpartum depression. The side effects of drugs have led to a high demand among users for natural therapies as an alternative.ObjectivesTo determine the effects of aromatherapy in postpartum mothers, in relation to mood and the impact on breastfeeding.Material and MethodsA literature review was carried out with searches of the Medline, Pubmed, Cochrane, LILACS, Google Scholar and Web of Science databases between 2006 and 2017.ResultsA total of six clinical trials were found, two of which were non-randomised. In all trials, lavender essential oil was used in women in the postpartum period, and mood was assessed before and after the application of the treatment.ConclusionsNo studies were found that related aromatherapy with breastfeeding, but all concluded that essential oil could be a preventative treatment for postpartum depression

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 di erent sounds, which reflect the activities taking place in it. There exists a medical concern about the e ect 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.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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 di erent sounds, which reflect the activities taking place in it. There exists a medical concern about the e ect 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.Peer Reviewe

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 di erent sounds, which reflect the activities taking place in it. There exists a medical concern about the e ect 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.Peer Reviewe

Pre-processing techniques for improved detection of vocalization sounds in a neonatal intensive care unit

The sounds occurring in the noisy acoustical environment of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are thought to affect the growth and neurodevelopment of preterm infants. Automatic sound detection in a NICU is a novel and challenging problem, and it is an essential step in the investigation of how preterm infants react to auditory stimuli of the NICU environment. In this paper, we present our work on an automatic system for detection of vocalization sounds, which are extensively present in NICUs. The proposed system reduces the presence of irrelevant sounds prior to detection. Several pre-processing techniques are compared, which are based on either spectral subtraction or non-negative matrix factorization, or a combination of both. The vocalization sounds are detected from the enhanced audio signal using either generative or discriminative classification models. An audio database acquired in a real-world NICU environment is used to assess the performance of the detection system in terms of frame-level missing and false alarm rates. The inclusion of the enhancement pre-processing step leads to up to 17.54% relative improvement over the baseline.Peer Reviewe

Comparación ambiental en dos salas de cuidados intensivos neonatales de tercer nivel

Les Unitats de Cures Intensives Neonatals (UCIN) de tercer nivell solen estar afectades d'elevada contaminació acústica. L'objectiu era quantificar mitjançant un estudi observacional la intensitat de soroll en dues sales UCIN, sales A i B, destinades a nounats a terme i a prematurs, respectivament. Les mesures de soroll van efectuar-se simultàniament a les sales mitjançant sensors sense fils durant 24 hores en 4 dies. Les fluctuacions de soroll continu van ser inferiors a 5dB produint-se uns màxims de soroll transitori a la nit i aconseguint-se valors més elevats en sala A. El soroll a les sales sobrepassa els límits internacionalment recomanats.Las Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales (UCIN) de tercer nivel suelen estar afectadas de elevada contaminación acústica. El objetivo fue cuantificar mediante un estudio observacional, la intensidad de ruido en dos salas UCIN, salas A y B, destinadas a neonatos a término y a prematuros, respectivamente. Las medidas de ruido se efectuaron simultáneamente en ambas salas mediante sensores inalámbricos durante 24h en 4 días. Las fluctuaciones de ruido continuo fueron inferiores a 5dB produciéndose máximos de ruido transitorio por la noche y alcanzándose valores más elevados en sala A. El ruido en ambas salas sobrepasó los límites internacionalmente recomendados