PhysioNet: an NIH research resource for physiologic datasets and open-source software

PhysioNet (<http:/www.physionet.org>) is an Internet resource from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) supplying well-characterized physiological data sets and related open-source software. PhysioNet maintains a growing collection of multi-parameter cardiopulmonary, neural and other biomedical signals from healthy subjects and patients with a variety of conditions with major public health implications, including sudden cardiac death, congestive heart failure, epilepsy, gait disorders, sleep apnea and aging. The data is supported by a collection of open-source software for biomedical signal processing and data management. PhysioNet is also an online forum of discussions and articles pertaining to the posted data sets and software. The utility of PhysioNet was demonstrated by the Sleep Apnea Challenge, which resulted in several new algorithms for the previously unsolved problem of detecting obstructive sleep apnea from an electrocardiogram