AnyWave: A cross-platform and modular software for visualizing and processing electrophysiological signals

- We developed a fast and extensible visualization and analysis platform.
- We provide a tool for clinicians and for methodologists.
- C++, MATLAB or Python plug-ins extend signal processing capabilities.
- Visualizations enhancements afford high fidelity rendering of time series and topographies.
- The management of many events/markers is easy and efficient.

BackgroundThe importance of digital signal processing in clinical neurophysiology is growing steadily, involving clinical researchers and methodologists. There is a need for crossing the gap between these communities by providing efficient delivery of newly designed algorithms to end users.We have developed such a tool which both visualizes and processes data and, additionally, acts as a software development platform.New methodAnyWave was designed to run on all common operating systems. It provides access to a variety of data formats and it employs high fidelity visualization techniques. It also allows using external tools as plug-ins, which can be developed in languages including C++, MATLAB and Python.ResultsIn the current version, plug-ins allow computation of connectivity graphs (non-linear correlation h2) and time-frequency representation (Morlet wavelets). The software is freely available under the LGPL3 license.Comparison with existing methodsAnyWave is designed as an open, highly extensible solution, with an architecture that permits rapid delivery of new techniques to end users.ConclusionsWe have developed AnyWave software as an efficient neurophysiological data visualizer able to integrate state of the art techniques. AnyWave offers an interface well suited to the needs of clinical research and an architecture designed for integrating new tools.We expect this software to strengthen the collaboration between clinical neurophysiologists and researchers in biomedical engineering and signal processing.