Biosignal interpretation conference 2009.

This special issue consisting of 20 selected papers arose from the 6th International Workshop on Biosignal Interpretation (BSI) held on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA in June 2009. The history of this series of international workshops can be traced back to the first meeting – the IMIA-IFMBE Working Conference on Biosignal Interpreta tion – which was held at Skorping, Denmark in August 1993. Three years later, in 1996, the Second IMIA-IFMBE International Workshop on Biosignal Inter pretation was held in Japan. The IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE-EMBS) co-sponsored subsequent workshops: the Third and Fourth International Workshops on Biosignal Inter pretation in Chicago, USA and in Como, Italy, respectively. The fifth BSI workshop was held for the second time in Japan in 2005. The workshop has grown to become truly international, with scientific participation from Europe, Asia, South and North America, and Australia. The mission of the BSI workshop is to communicate and disseminate the most recent advances in medical informatics and biosignal processing methods that can be applied to biological and physiological systems so that interpretation of the results can lead to better detection, diagnosis and eventual treatment of various diseases. To this end, in this special issue, we have contributions from five categories: 1. Advanced Methodology for Biosignal Processing and Interpretation 2. Neural Engineering, Brain Dynamics, and Seizure Detection 3. Heart Rate Variability and Cardiovascular Dynamics 4. Emerging Health Care Technology 5. Medical Imaging and Interpretation