Supported Data Formats
| Module information | |
| Modules | BESA Research Basic or higher |
| Version | BESA Research 6.1 or higher |
BESA Research supports most major EEG and MEG file formats. Most file format readers are written by ourselves, others are supplied by the manufacturers. This document gives an overview of all the data formats that can be imported in BESA Research 6.1 or higher. If your file format cannot be found in this list, please contact us via our support portal: BESA support portal
The readers are part of the product installations, and the latest readers are included in the product installations.
Supported EEG data formats
| File Format / Manufacturer / Software | File Extension | File Formats Version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha-Trace (alpha-trace medical software) | .alp | tested up to v418-05 | |
| ASCII | .avr .mul | ASCII File Format | |
| ATES * | |||
| BDF (BioSemi) | .bdf | Reading BioSemi data | |
| Beekeeper64 (Telefactor) | .eeg .dat | ||
| Bio-logic (Natus) * | .eeg | ||
| BrainAmp / BrainVision (Brain Products) | .eeg .vhdr | ||
| BrainLab (Schwarzer) | .sig | ||
| BrainStar (Schwind Medizintechnik) | .eeg | ||
| Cadwell *, *** | .flex | tested up to Arc API 2.1.106.0 | ARC API needs to be installed *** |
| Compumedics (ProFusion) *, ** | .sdy | ProFusion EEG 4, 5 | |
| DCmes, PolyDC (MES) | .dat | ||
| Deltamed (Natus, Coherence) * | .eeg | ||
| Deltamed (Natus, Neurofile) | .eeg | ||
| EBNeuro (Galileo) *, ** | .gnt .set | Galileo.NT, Galileo.NET 3.5 | Reading EBNeuro Files |
| EDF (European Data Format) | .edf | EDF, EDF+ | Reading EDF Files |
| EEProbe (ANT) | .cnt | ||
| Electrical Geodesics, Inc. - Raw data format | .raw .ses | Reading EGI Raw Files | |
| Electrical Geodesics, Inc. - Metafile Format (EGI MFF) * | .xml | up to MFF v3 | |
| magstim EGI (Philips) MFF | .mff | ||
| ERPSS * | |||
| g.Tec (Guger Technologies) * | .hdf5 | requires BESA Research 7.0 or higher | |
| Galileo (EBNeuro) * | .nt | ||
| Generic Reader (any ASCII formats; see BESA Program Help) | .avr .mul | ||
| Grass-Telefactor (Natus) * | .ref | up to Twin v3.1 | |
| InstEP *, **** | .c .is .ia | up to version 7.3 of the IWave Input/Output library | |
| Konstanz file format * | .raw .sum | ||
| ManScan interchange format (SAM) * | .mbi | ||
| MED Dark Horse Neuro * | requires BESA Research version 7.1.3.0 or higher | ||
| Medtronic * | .wg1 | ||
| MEF (Multiscale Electrophysiology File) * | .xml | MEF 2.0 | Reading MEF Files |
| Micromed (Natus) * | .trc | Micromed System98 EEG file (version 3, 4, and 5) | version 5 requires BESA Research version 7.1.3.0 or higher |
| Neuralynx * | .ncs | requires BESA Research version 7.0 or higher | |
| NeurOne (Bittium, formerly known as Mega Electronics) * | .xml | ||
| Neuronic * | |||
| NeuroScan | .cnt .avg | NeuroScan 3.x | Reading NeuroScan Files] |
| NeuroScan Curry 7 * | .rs3 .dap .dat .ce* | Curry 6 and 7 files | requires BESA Research version 7.0 or higher. See also Reading NeuroScan Files |
| NeuroScan Curry 8 * | .dpa .cdt .ceo | Curry 8 files | requires BESA Research 7.1 or higher |
| NeuroScan Curry 9 * | .dpo .cdt .ceo | Curry 9 files | requires BESA Research 7.1.3.0 or higher |
| NexStim | .nxe | ||
| Nicolet (Natus) * | .eeg | ||
| NicoletOne / Nervus (Natus) * | .e .eeg | ||
| Nihon Kohden | .eeg | EEG-1100, EEG-1200, EEG-2100 | |
| Phoenix II (EMS) * | s*.0 s*.1 … | ||
| Stellate Systems - Harmonie (Natus) *, ** | .sig | Harmonie 5.2c, 5.4, 6.1, 6.2, 7a | |
| Stellate Systems - Monitor (Natus) *, ** | .eeg | ||
| Vangard (LaMont Medical Inc.) * | B****, no extension | ||
| XDF * | .xdf | requires BESA Research 7.1 or higher | |
| Natus NeuroWorks (former XLTEK) | .eeg .erd | up to v. 9.3 | version 9.3 requires BESA Research version 7.1.3.0 or higher |
If files are in one of these formats, they can be read directly and conversion is not required. BESA Research also has a new, flexible interface for importing ASCII files which can be used in conjunction with the ASCII export functions of your software. Any EEG format can be converted to the compressed BESA binary format, ASCII format, EDF+ or simple binary format.
* Install this reader using "Install Additional Readers.htm" in the "Utilities\Additional Readers\" subfolder.
** The EEG data format requires installation of the corresponding EEG system reader software or SDK.
*** The Cadwell reader requires the installation of the Cadwell Arc API. If this API is not already installed on your computer, download it from the following link and install it on your computer: Link. The API must be installed in the suggested default path on your C: drive.
**** Please note that a valid license for the IWave library is required in order to be able to read InstEP files.
Supported MEG data formats
| File Format / Manufacturer / Software | File Extension | File Formats Version | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASCII | .avr .mul | ASCII File Format | |
| BESA 2000 / FOCUS High Compression Format | .foc .fsg | ||
| BTI | special export program exp2BESAbin is required (Unix system) | ||
| Cerca Magnetics OPM * | .fif | requires BESA Research 7.1.3.0 or higher | |
| CTF | .meg4 | ||
| Elekta Neuromag Functional Image File Format (FIFF) | .fif | FIFF v2.0 | |
| Ricoh ** | .con | v3.0 | requires BESA Research 7.0 or higher |
| Yokogawa ** | .con .raw .ave .SQD | up to version 2 |
* Requires prior conversion to .fif using a proprietary script supplied by Cerca Magnetics. subfolder.
** Install this reader using "Install Additional Readers.htm" in the "Utilities\Additional Readers\" subfolder.
