A ballistocardiogram dataset with reference ECG signals for bedside heart rhythm assessment

The unobtrusive collection of ballistocardiogram (BCG) data makes it a promising option for continuous, low-effort cardiovascular monitoring. Key heart rhythm metrics such as heart rate (HR), inter-beat interval (IBI), and heart rate variability (HRV) are widely recognized indicators of cardiovascular health. The primary clinical goal of BCG applications is to estimate these metrics accurately. However, most previous studies have focused on the subject group exclusively consisting of healthy young adults, differing markedly from the high-risk populations (e.g., old adults or cardiac patients), who would benefit most from long-term monitoring in everyday settings. To bridge this gap, we collected nighttime BCG recordings from 46 middle-aged and elderly participants during natural sleep. The subjects included individuals with atrial arrhythmias, ventricular arrhythmias, myocardial ischemia, and nonclinical variations like sinus arrhythmias. This dataset comes with synchronized Holter monitor recordings, may advance BCG's utilization in cardiac rhythm assessment and early cardiovascular disease detection, and test the generalizability of BCG algorithms in real-world scenarios with various health conditions.