Working with BIDS-iEEG
The platform stores iEEG data in BIDS-iEEG, a shared standard that makes datasets look the same across centers and tools. Here's what the standard is - before you use it to convert your own data.
BIDS-iEEG is a standard way of structuring and naming iEEG data. On the platform you convert your data into it yourself, using dedicated tools - it isn't done automatically. This is what makes data reusable across projects and tools.
What BIDS-iEEG is
BIDS-iEEG is a community standard that defines how intracerebral EEG data and its metadata are organized and named. Its purpose is simple: any center's data ends up with the same shape, so it can be understood and used without bespoke handling.
What conversion involves
The platform does not convert uploads for you. Converting to BIDS-iEEG is a deliberate step you carry out, which gives you control over how your data is organized and annotated.
Converting to BIDS-iEEG means organizing your files into the BIDS folder hierarchy, renaming them to the BIDS convention, and adding the required metadata - including electrode and coordinate information specific to iEEG.
Tools for conversion
The platform provides an integrated BIDS importer that takes your recordings and produces a BIDS-iEEG dataset - normalizing formats, standardizing sampling, and carrying the metadata across. It accepts a limited set of input formats and covers a subset of BIDS data types, so check that yours are among them before you plan around it.
Several integrated analysis tools can also export to BIDS, including Brainstorm and MNE-Python (via MNE-BIDS).
Where the standard is required
In your own personal workspace you can keep data however you like - the standard is a recommendation, not a gate.
It becomes a requirement the moment data is shared: data has to pass BIDS validation before it can move into a collaborative workspace. That is what stops a shared project turning into a collection of incompatible per-centre conventions.
If you know your data is destined for a shared project, converting it early is easier than converting it later.
Why it matters
Standardization is what enables cross-project and cross-tool reuse, and it underpins FAIR data - making data as findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable as governance allows. For the fuller picture, see Standards in the CHORUS tab.
What's next
Now that you know what the standard is, the next step is to upload your recordings and convert them.