Targeted Conveyance of Clinical Alarms through Bone-Conductive Sound

Intensive care units (ICU) are a stressful and noisy environment. A number of 350 ubiquitously audible alarms per patient every day does not only result in a slower recovery time for the patients, but also in alarm fatigue of healthcare professionals, a desensitization for alarms. A possible approach in reducing the number of alarms in ICUs might be a personal distribution using bone-conductive speaker to convey alarms exactly to just the responsible nurses. In this paper we describe a feasibility study exploring the impact of bone-conductive sound on reaction times and subjective perception of alarms, compared to normal speakers. The study examines these effects across three different types of tasks and three levels of alarms, showing that reaction times are faster when using bone-conductive sound in all six categories. In addition, alarms conveyed via bone-conduction are perceived to be more urgent, less comfortable, more distracting and easier to recognize.