Non-Invasive Fetal ECG Arrhythmia Database

Creator: Joachim Behar
Published: Feb. 19, 2019    Version: 1.0.0

Citation

When using this resource, please cite the original publication:
Behar JA, Bonnemains L, Shulgin V, Oster J, Ostras O, Lakhno I. Noninvasive fetal electrocardiography for the detection of fetal arrhythmias. Prenatal Diagnosis, 2019 Jan 2.

Please include the standard citation for PhysioNet: (show more options)
Goldberger, A., Amaral, L., Glass, L., Hausdorff, J., Ivanov, P. C., Mark, R., ... & Stanley, H. E. (2000). PhysioBank, PhysioToolkit, and PhysioNet: Components of a new research resource for complex physiologic signals. Circulation [Online]. 101 (23), pp. e215–e220.

Introduction

Fetal cardiac arrhythmias are defined as any irregular fetal cardiac rhythm or a regular rhythm at a rate outside the reference range of 100 to 200 beats per minute (bpm). Arrhythmias are discovered in about 1% of fetuses, with approximately 10% of these being potential sources of morbidity. Although most fetal arrhythmias are benign, some can cause fetal hydrops and lead to fetal death. This means that up to 1 in 100 fetuses may need their arrhythmias to be closely monitored and, if indicated, treated in-utero using antiarrhythmic therapy.

The Non-Invasive Fetal ECG Arrhythmia Database (NIFEA DB) provides a series of fetal arrhythmia recordings (n=12) and a number of control normal rhythm recordings (n=14) performed using the non-invasive fetal electrocardiography (NI-FECG) technique.

Data Description

For each recording, a set of four or five abdominal channels and one maternal chest channel were recorded. The sampling frequency was 500 Hz or 1 kHz, as indicated in the header of each file. Detailed diagnostic information and the gestational age of each fetus can be found in the associated publication.

Recordings are named using the following convention:

• ARR: arrhythmia fetus.
• NR: normal rhythm fetus.
• The mention "chest" corresponds to the single-lead maternal chest ECG.
• The mention "abdominal" corresponds to the 4–5 raw abdominal channels.

Contributors

This data was contributed by: Joachim A. Behar, Laurent Bonnemains, Vyacheslav Shulgin, Julien Oster, Oleksii Ostras, and Igor Lakhno.

Contact

For further information, please contact:
Name: Joachim Behar
Affiliation: Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Email: joachim.a.behar@gmail.com