ANSI/AAMI EC13 Test Waveforms

The files in this set can be used for testing a variety of devices that monitor the electrocardiogram. The recordings include both synthetic and real waveforms. For details on these test waveforms and how to use them, please refer to section 5.1.2.1, paragraphs (e) and (g) in the reference below.

Each recording contains one ECG signal sampled at 720 Hz with 12-bit resolution. The recordings can be viewed or converted to text form using the PhysioBank ATM, or read directly using the WFDB Software Package. The record names refer to the illustrations in the reference below (figures 3 and 4 on pages 25 and 26 of that document). Note that EC13 specifies that the tachycardia waveforms in figure 4 should be presented following an abrupt transition from synthetic waveforms specified in figure 6 of EC13; thus the aami4* records each begin with 30 seconds of triangle waveforms, followed by the figure 4 waveforms. The records named aami4a_d and aami4a_h, etc., contain the half-size and double-size versions of the figure 4 data that are mentioned in the standard. (The names are misleading, since the _d records contain the half-size versions, and the _h records contain the double-size versions, the opposite of what the record names imply. The names are those given by AAMI, the source of these files, and they have not been changed, in hopes of avoiding further confusion. Thanks to Humberto Valdes for pointing out this issue.)

In addition to these waveforms, EC13 specifies the use of specific synthesized waveforms that can be created using the ECG waveform generator for Matlab/Octave available in PhysioToolkit.

Reference

Cardiac monitors, heart rate meters, and alarms [American National Standard (ANSI/AAMI EC13:2002)]. Arlington, VA: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, 2002.

 Name                    Last modified      Size  Description
 Parent Directory                             -   
 MD5SUMS                 12-Jul-2005 20:03  916   
 RECORDS                 19-Dec-2002 13:01   78   list of record names
 SHA1SUMS                12-Jul-2005 20:03  1.1K  
 SHA256SUMS              18-Sep-2007 12:36  1.8K  
 aami3a.dat              19-Dec-2002 11:36   84K  digitized signal(s)
 aami3a.hea              19-Dec-2002 11:36   97   header file
 aami3b.dat              19-Dec-2002 11:36   84K  digitized signal(s)
 aami3b.hea              19-Dec-2002 11:36   96   header file
 aami3c.dat              19-Dec-2002 11:36   84K  digitized signal(s)
 aami3c.hea              19-Dec-2002 11:36   96   header file
 aami3d.dat              19-Dec-2002 11:36   67K  digitized signal(s)
 aami3d.hea              19-Dec-2002 11:36   96   header file
 aami4a.dat              19-Dec-2002 11:36  127K  digitized signal(s)
 aami4a.hea              19-Dec-2002 11:36   99   header file
 aami4a_d.dat            19-Dec-2002 11:36  127K  digitized signal(s)
 aami4a_d.hea            19-Dec-2002 11:36  104   header file
 aami4a_h.dat            19-Dec-2002 11:36  127K  digitized signal(s)
 aami4a_h.hea            19-Dec-2002 11:37  105   header file
 aami4b.dat              19-Dec-2002 11:37  127K  digitized signal(s)
 aami4b.hea              19-Dec-2002 11:37   99   header file
 aami4b_d.dat            19-Dec-2002 11:37  127K  digitized signal(s)
 aami4b_d.hea            19-Dec-2002 11:37  104   header file
 aami4b_h.dat            19-Dec-2002 11:37  127K  digitized signal(s)
 aami4b_h.hea            19-Dec-2002 11:37  106   header file

Your comments and suggestions are welcome. We encourage you to use our feedback form to comment on this page. If you would like to receive a reply, please send your comments by email to webmaster@physionet.org, or post them to: PhysioNet MIT Room E25-505A 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 USA