Surgery – Sleep or relaxation inducing therapy – Sensory
Patent
1987-04-13
1989-04-11
Coven, Edward M.
Surgery
Sleep or relaxation inducing therapy
Sensory
A61M 2100
Patent
active
048196169
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a baby calmer comprising a source of sound adapted to calm a crying baby.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Research has been carried out into the use of recordings of, simulations of and synthesis of intra-uterine sounds for calming babies and has led to the marketing of cassettes containing such recorded sounds and of synthesizers for generating such sounds.
This form of sound has however generally only been found to be effective with babies of up to six weeks of age.
The existing intra-uterine sound methods using cassettes are cumbersome as they involve a cassette player, heavy usage of batteries, and are dangerous to run on mains close to the baby or obtrusive to the environment is located far away from the baby and set at an appropriate sound level. Furthermore, the cassettes are relatively expensive and the synthesizer even more so.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object underlying the present invention is to produce a baby calmer which is at least as effective as and preferably more effective than the known intra-uterine sound devices, which can be used to calm babies which are substantially older than six weeks of age, which is easy to handle, which is unobtrusive, and which minimizes energy consumption so that it may readily be run on batteries.
In order to satisfy this object the present invention is characterised by a generator for generating random noise or pseudo-random noise over an audio frequency range extending up to at least several thousand hertz, preferably up to at least then thousand hertz; and by means for automatically reducing the level of said noise from an initial level to a lower level and subsequently to an imperceptible level, preferably zero.
The present invention is thus based on the concept that random noise or pseudo-random noise, typically referred to as white noise when extending over a wide range of frequencies or "pink noise" when extending over the range of audio-frequencies, has a calming effect on babies and young children. It has been noticed, for instance, that the most commonly pronounced sound used to calm or quiet people is "SHSHSH", an oral simulation of random noise. Moreover, it is believed that this is far superior to intra-uterine sound which contains the foetal heartbeat as a major component. This follows from oberservations that soft regular random sounds are more calming than regular beats, for example rain versus a dripping tap. Moreover, it is postulated that intra- uterine sound may in fact be far from ideal so far as its calming effect on a baby is concerned. It is postulated that a baby hears the intra-uterine sound for many months during the development of the foetus in the womb and is separated from the sound at the moment of birth. It is quite conceivable that this dramatic change would be disturbing to a baby (possibly similar to the disturbing adult experience of being present in an anechoic chamber) were he not "programmed" in some way to dissociate himself from this sound. Thus the unnatural recall of this sound experience might not be so welcome. This might also be the explanation for the observation that the calming effect of intra-uterine sound lasts for six weeks only.
However, the present invention does not rest with the recognition that white noise will exert a calming effect on a baby, instead it proposes the use of at least two different sound levels with the following aim. The initial higher sound level is intended to be a level comparable with that of a crying baby and sufficiently high that it is able to penetrate the babies own cry and, as it were, to attract the babies attention. Once this has been done, and observations have shown that a relatively short period of time is sufficient, normally a period of time in a range from 15 seconds to 45 seconds, it is proposed, in accordance with the invention, that the white noise generator be switched to a lower level which is sufficient to hold the babies attention and to lull it into sleep or at least a state of calmness. It is diff
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International Search Report (2 pages) re PCT/EP 86/00476; this Search Report refers to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,213,851 and 3,576,185, previously cited in the present case.
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