SignalML 1.0

To our knowledge, the first proposition of a markup language designed for meta-description of formats used for digital storage of biomedical time series was published in (Durka and Ircha 2004). This publication was delayed by almost a year, to include in the same issue an ardent response entitled “SignalML from an EDF+ perspective” (Kemp 2004). It missed the point, concluding “the two solutions are currently incompatible”. Let us repeat: SignalML is not yet another data format. Also, EDF is one of the first formats for which the SignalML description was provided.

In the following years, we concentrated on an example implementation—a software system for display, annotation and analysis of EEG and MEG. While EEG was our primary target and field of expertise, both the application as well as the SignalML framework seem to be general enough to be directly applicable—or easily adaptable—to other multivariate time series, in particular biomedical. For example, polysomnographic recordings displayed in SignalML already contain non-EEG channels.

This application (signalml, available with GPL code from http://signalml.org) is now reaching a mature stage. It features a commercial-grade user interface and an open API for incorporating advanced signal processing methods into a mouse-driven environment.

Having reached this critical mass in terms of software, we are now returning to the basic idea.

Schema for 1.0: SignalML.xsd