--- a
+++ b/mit-bih-arrhythmia-database-1.0.0/mitdbdir/foreword.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+<html>
+<head>
+<title>MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database Directory (Foreword)</title>
+</head>
+<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
+
+<a href="mitdbdir.htm"><h1 align=center>MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database Directory
+</h1></a>
+
+<p>
+<b>Next:</b> <a href="intro.htm">Introduction</a>
+<b>Up:</b> <a href="mitdbdir.htm#toc">Contents</a>
+
+<a name="foreword"><h1>Foreword [from the first edition]</h1></a>
+<p>
+For a number of years our group has been investigating methods for real-time
+ECG rhythm analysis.  In the course of this work, we have developed an
+extensive annotated digital ECG database.  The database has been enormously
+helpful to us in algorithm development and evaluation.  The creation of this
+resource required a major effort, and was funded, in part, by both government
+and industry.  We feel it is highly desirable to make this database available
+to other academic and industrial groups, and hence have prepared it for
+distribution.  This catalog contains detailed descriptions of the database
+tapes.
+<p>
+We acknowledge with gratitude the many dedicated hours of work which
+went into this project on the part of cardiologists, Holter technicians,
+laboratory assistants, and engineers in our laboratories at MIT and at
+Beth Israel Hospital.  We also acknowledge the help of our colleagues at
+Washington University, St. Louis (particularly Russell Hermes) in
+assuring a compatible data format.  We especially wish to recognize:
+<ul>
+<li>
+<i>Paul Schluter</i>, who did the original design and implementation of the
+database.
+<li>
+<i>Scott Peterson</i>, who supervised the detailed data selection,
+digitization, annotation, and editing at Beth Israel Hospital.  He also
+contributed substantially to the development of software needed for using the
+database in our evaluation.
+<li>
+<i>George Moody</i>, who converted the database to a format compatible with
+that used by the AHA database, and who contributed in a major way to the
+directory.
+<li>
+<i>Larry Siegal</i>, who contributed to development of the waveform editor
+system.
+<li>
+<i>Cheryl Jackson</i>, who was responsible for most of the detailed
+transcription of cardiologist annotations, the comparison and quality control
+functions, and who assembled the final manuscript for the directory.
+<li>
+<i>Diane Perry</i>, who as chief technician in the Arrhythmia Laboratory helped
+to identify suitable data, and who helped in the annotation process.
+<li>
+The group of physicians who helped with the difficult task of beat-by-beat
+annotation of the ECGs:
+Dr. Esmerey Acarturk, Dr. John Aumiller, Dr. Sidney Blake, Dr. Alvin
+Blaustein, Dr. Chester Conrad, Dr. Gary Heller, Dr. Michael Malagold,
+Dr. Roger Mark, and Dr. Candice Miklozek.
+</ul>
+
+<p>
+Roger Mark<br>
+Walter Olson<br>
+<br>
+Cambridge, Massachusetts<br>
+September, 1980<br>
+
+<hr>
+<h2>Notes on the second edition</h2>
+<p>
+During the eight years since we first published this book, nearly one hundred
+academic and industrial research groups worldwide have used the MIT-BIH
+Arrhythmia Database.  We thank these organizations for their support.
+<p>
+In addition to those listed above, we also wish to recognize the
+contributions of:
+<ul>
+<li>
+<i>Joe Mietus</i>, who handled correspondence as well as production and
+distribution of the database from the Beth Israel Hospital, and who analyzed
+the mechanical sources of analog tape wow and flutter.
+<li>
+<i>Ted Baker</i>, who helped in the first ``port'' of the database from our
+homebrew 8080-based systems.
+</ul>
+<p>
+In lieu of reprinting the first edition of this volume, we have made use of
+modern printing technology to produce a far more readable and complete record
+of the contents of the database.  
+<p>
+In June, 1987, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation
+published its <i>Recommended Practice for Testing and Reporting
+Performance Results of Ventricular Arrhythmia Detection Algorithms</i>
+(AAMI ECAR-1987), which may be obtained from AAMI, 3330 Washington Boulevard,
+Suite 400, Arlington, VA 22201.
+The MIT-BIH and AHA Databases provide developers and evaluators of arrhythmia
+detectors with standard test data;  the AAMI Recommended Practice provides
+guidelines for using these databases in a standard way, and for describing
+detector performance in a manner that facilitates comparisons between
+detectors.
+We urge all users of our database to follow the AAMI recommendations when
+preparing performance statistics for publication.
+<p>
+A package of C-language software for using the MIT-BIH and AHA Databases
+is available from MIT.  The package
+includes programs for plotting ECGs with annotations, sampling rate
+conversion, and beat-by-beat comparison of annotation files following the
+AAMI recommended practice, as well as a variety of other useful programs.
+All the programs access the database via a common library of subroutines,
+which are also provided as part of the package and which may be used with
+user programs.
+<p>
+We have made several other sets of ECG recordings available, including
+specialized databases for ventricular fibrillation, atrial fibrillation,
+and ST segment changes.  These databases are not annotated beat-by-beat.
+
+<p>
+George Moody<br>
+Roger Mark<br>
+<br>
+Cambridge, Massachusetts<br>
+August, 1988
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>Notes on the third edition</h2>
+<p>
+Since the publication of the second edition, the database has been made
+available in CD-ROM format.  Continued strong interest in the database has made
+it possible to prepare a second edition of the CD-ROM and a third edition of
+this book.  The CD-ROM includes the additional specialized databases mentioned
+above, and the second edition of the CD-ROM also contains the software
+package mentioned above.
+<p>
+Compatible databases of ECGs and other physiologic signals are beginning to
+appear.  Of particular interest to users of our database is the European ST-T
+Database, which consists of ninety two-hour ECG recordings with beats, rhythms,
+and signal quality annotated as in the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database, and with
+additional annotations to indicate ST and T-wave morphology changes.  For
+information, write to: CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Computer
+Laboratory, via Trieste, 41, 56100 Pisa, Italy.
+<p>
+I wish to thank all of those who have supported this project over these years,
+especially Roger Mark, who has guided it from its inception in 1975.
+
+<p>
+George Moody<br>
+<br>
+Cambridge, Massachusetts<br>
+July, 1992
+
+<hr>
+
+<h2>Notes on this HTML edition</h2>
+<p>
+Although the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database has been available for almost 17 years
+at this writing, it remains in demand among researchers and instrument
+developers.  This edition of the Directory accompanies the third edition of
+the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database CD-ROM;  it is the first to appear in hypertext
+form.
+<p>
+If you have installed Netscape on your system, and have set up as a Netscape
+helper application either <tt>wavescript</tt> (see <a
+href="/physiotools/wug/node45.htm"><i>Controlling <em>WAVE</em> from a web
+browser</i></a>) or <tt>wvscript</tt> (see <a
+href="/physiotools/wview/index.shtml"><i>Setting up WVSCRIPT</i></a>), you may
+follow the links from this guide to the records.
+<p>
+Once again, I wish to thank everyone who has supported this project through
+their continued interest in this database.
+
+<P><ADDRESS>
+<I><A HREF="mailto:george@mit.edu">George B. Moody (<tt>george@mit.edu</tt>)</A></ADDRESS></I><BR>
+24 May 1997 (Links updated 11 November 1999 for PhysioNet)
+</body>
+</html>