CosmoNote/PhysioNet is a web-based viewer for the PhysioBank repository of complex biomedical signals. CosmoNote/PhysioNet is an outgrowth of CosmoNote, a web-based application originally designed for viewing, listening to, and annotating music information. To find relationships between music and synchronised biomedical data, we added the capability to view concurrent biomedical signals in CosmoNote. Having trialed the ability to view biomedical signals in CosmoNote, we wanted the next step in its evolution to be the ability to view biomedical signals from PhysioNet. The open design of PhysioNet (and its PhysioBank data), that allows any web client to request data, enabled the integration of CosmoNote and PhysioNet.
In creating CosmoNote/PhysioNet, we wanted the interface to be as simple as possible to keep the focus on the data rather than on navigating the interface itself. To simplify navigating databases and records, we put all data navigation controls on a single page, eliminating unnecessary clicks and allowing users to focus on navigating databases and records and viewing their signals and annotations. CosmoNote/PhysioNet improves data analysis of physiological data with a novel exploration feature: time maps of selected records with annotations that show any non-normal annotations that occur during the full time span of that record. By selecting a time range around that non-normal annotation (or any other part of the record), the interface zooms into the data for that time range, allowing for visual investigation of signal changes that surround the non-normal annotation.
By offering a simple interface and an easy way to locate and find non-normal signals, CosmoNote/PhysioNet provides an effective viewing option to PhysioNet's open databases.