PhysioNet/CinC Challenge 2009: Test Sets

Test sets for each of the two events are available here.

Test set A, for event 1, consists of 10 sets of records. Five of these were followed (within 1 hour) by an acute hypotensive episode (AHE); five were not. The challenge is to determine which records are in the first group.

Test set B, for event 2, consists of 40 sets of records. Between 10 and 16 of these were followed (within 1 hour) by an acute hypotensive episode (AHE); the others were not. As for the event 1, the challenge is to determine which records are in the first group.

In each case, the original data from which these records have been prepared has been divided into three segments, designated a, b, and c. The "b" segments are exactly 10 hours long in each case, and the challenge concerns what happens during the hour following the end of segment b. The "a" segments contain all of the available data recorded prior to segment b; these segments are of varying lengths. The "c" segments contain all of the available data following segment b; these segments are also of varying lengths.

Each segment consists of three types of data: a waveform record, containing up to 8 simultaneous signals sampled at 125 Hz, including at least an ABP signal and an ECG signal; a numerics record (with a record name ending in n, containing 10 to 20 time series of vital sign measurements, sampled once per second, including at least the mean, systolic, and diastolic ABP, and the heart rate (HR); and a clinical record (with a record name ending in c), containing information collected in the hospital from observations and laboratory tests as well as information about medications.

For example, the first record set in test set A is designated as 101. It consists of the following records, all within the test-set-a subdirectory of this page:

The records for the "a" and "b" segments were available for use during the Challenge, but those for the "c" segments were posted following the conclusion of the Challenge at the beginning of September 2009. Note that no clinical information is available during the "b" segment of record 214 in test set B.

You may explore any of the available records using the PhysioBank ATM (select the appropriate Challenge 2009 test set in the Database menu to begin).

If you wish to try the challenge problem, depending on the strategy you wish to pursue, it may be sufficient to study the "b" segments. If you wish to download these data, tarballs of the "b" segments of test set A (367 MB) and the "b" segments of test set B (1.4 GB) are available; see this note for information about unpacking tarballs. In addition, a tarball of the clinical data for the "a" and "b" segments of both test sets (12 MB) is also available; these data are not included in the other two tarballs.

For additional information, see the Challenge 2009 home page.

About waveforms: It is typical for the set of available waveforms to change during these records, since the choice of monitored waveforms reflects changing clinical needs. More than 8 waveforms are often available in these records; the limit of 8 simultaneous waveforms refers only to the largest subset that is available at any given time. At least one ECG signal is almost always available (except when the monitor is disconnected completely), and these records have generally been chosen from those for which the ABP signal is continuous or nearly so.