Mitigating Sound with Advanced Pump Technology

Medical technology continues to evolve toward diagnosis and treatment devices that are closer to the patient, or even in the patient's home. Compression therapy, wound therapy, dialysis, point-of-care testing, and portable oxygen concentrators are just a few such instruments. Many of these instruments include active components that create noise that can impact a patient's sleep quality and level of comfort and can create stigma around using device. A diaphragm pump, which produces gas flow and pressure, is often one of the main sound contributors, and reducing the noise it makes can significantly affect the overall noise generated by the device. Engineers must balance performance needs and sound quality with increasing demands for miniaturized and application-specific equipment. These concerns have created a growing challenge to reduce the amount of noise generated by the device and its components.