Skip to content

Appendix VI: MEG file formats

Each MEG system brand has specific file organization and data formats. RECOMMENDED values for manufacturer_specific_extensions:

Value Definition
ctf CTF (folder with .ds extension)
fif Neuromag / Elekta / MEGIN  and BabyMEG (file with extension .fif)
4d BTi / 4D Neuroimaging (folder containing multiple files without extensions)
kit KIT / Yokogawa / Ricoh (file with extension .sqd, .con, .raw, .ave or .mrk)
kdf  KRISS (file with extension .kdf)
itab Chieti system (file with extension .raw and .mhd)

Below are specifications for each system brand.

CTF

Each experimental run with a CTF system yields a folder with a .ds extension, containing several files. The OPTIONAL digitized positions of the head points are usually stored in a separate .pos file, not necessarily within the .ds folder.

[sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_headshape.pos]
sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_task-<label>[_run-<index>]_meg.ds>

CTF’s data storage is therefore via directories containing multiple files. The files contained within a .ds directory are named such that they match the parent directory, but conserve the original file extension (e.g., .meg4, .res4, etc.). The renaming of CTF datasets SHOULD be done using the CTF newDs command-line application.

Example:

sub-control01/
    ses-001/
        sub-control01_ses-001_scans.tsv
        meg/
            sub-control01_ses-001_coordsystem.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_headshape.pos
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.ds
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_channels.tsv

To learn more about  CTF’s data organization: http://www.fieldtriptoolbox.org/getting_started/ctf

Neuromag/Elekta/MEGIN

Neuromag/Elekta/MEGIN data and Tristan Technologies BabyMEG data is stored with file extension .fif. The digitized positions of the head points are saved inside the fif file along with the MEG data, with typically no _headshape file.

sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_task-<label>[_run-<index>]_meg.fif

Note that we do not provide specific specifications for cross-talk and fine-calibration matrix files in the present MEG-BIDS version.

Example:

sub-control01/
    ses-001/
        sub-control01_ses-001_scans.tsv
        meg/
            sub-control01_ses-001_coordsystem.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.fif
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_channels.tsv

After applying the MaxFilter pre-processing tool, files should be renamed with the corresponding label (e.g. proc-sss) and placed into a derivatives subfolder.

Example:

sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_proc-sss_meg.fif
sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_proc-sss_meg.json

In the case of data runs exceeding 2Gb, the data is stored in two separate files:

sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.fif
sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg-1.fif

Each of these two files has a pointer to the next file. In some software applications, like MNE, one can simply specify the name of the first file, and data will be read in both files via this pointer. For this reason, it is RECOMMENDED to rename and write back the file once read, to avoid the persistence of a pointer associated with the old file name.

Naming convention:

sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_part-01_meg.fif
sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_part-02_meg.fif

More about the Neuromag/Elekta/MEGIN data organization at: http://www.fieldtriptoolbox.org/getting_started/neuromag And BabyMEG : http://www.fieldtriptoolbox.org/getting_started/babysquid

BTi/4D neuroimaging

Each experimental run on a 4D neuroimaging/BTi system results in a folder containing multiple files without extensions.

[sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_headshape.pos]
sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_task-<label>[_run-<index>]_meg>

One SHOULD rename/create a father run specific directory and keep the original files for each run inside (e.g. "c,rfhp0.1Hz", "config" and "hs_file").

Example:

sub-control01/
    ses-001/
        sub-control01_ses-001_scans.tsv
        meg/
            sub-control01_ses-001_coordsystem.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_headshape.pos
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_channels.tsv

Where:

sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg/
    config
    hs_file
    e,rfhp1.0Hz.COH
    c,rfDC

More about the 4D neuroimaging/BTi data organization at: http://www.fieldtriptoolbox.org/getting_started/bti

KIT/Yokogawa/Ricoh

Each experimental run on a KIT/Yokogawa/Ricoh system yields a raw (.sqd, .con) file with its associated marker coil file (.mrk), which contains coil positions in the acquisition system’s native space. Head points and marker points in head space are acquired using third-party hardware. One SHOULD rename/create a father run specific directory and keep the original files for each run inside.

Example:

sub-control01/
    ses-001/
        sub-control01_ses-001_scans.tsv
        meg/
            sub-control01_ses-001_coordsystem.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_headshape.txt
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_channels.tsv

Where:

sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg/
    sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_markers.<mrk,sqd>
    sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.<con,sqd>

More about the KIT/Yokogawa/Ricoh data organization at: http://www.fieldtriptoolbox.org/getting_started/yokogawa

KRISS

Each experimental run on the KRISS system produces a file with extension .kdf. Additional files can be available in the same folder: the digitized positions of the head points (_digitizer.txt), the position of the center of the MEG coils (.chn) and the event markers (.trg).

[sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_headshape.txt]
sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_task-<label>[_run-<index>]_meg.kdf
sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_task-<label>[_run-<index>]_meg.chn
sub-<label>[_ses-<label>]_task-<label>[_run-<index>]_meg.trg

Example:

sub-control01/
    ses-001/
        sub-control01_ses-001_scans.tsv
        meg/
            sub-control01_ses-001_coordsystem.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_headshape.txt
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.json
            sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_channels.tsv

Where:

sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg/
    sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.chn
    sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.kdf
    sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.trg

ITAB

Each experimental run on a ITAB-ARGOS153 system yields a raw (.raw) data file plus an associated binary header file (.mhd). The raw data file has an ASCII header that contains detailed information about the data acquisition system, followed by binary data. The associated binary header file contains part of the information from the ASCII header, specifically the one needed to process data, plus other information on offline preprocessing performed after data acquisition (e.g., sensor position relative to subject’s head, head markers, stimulus information). One should rename/create a father run specific directory and keep the original files for each run inside.

Example:

sub-control01/
    ses-001/
        sub-control01_ses-001_coordsystem.json
        sub-control01_ses-001_headshape.txt
        sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg
        sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.json
        sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_channels.tsv

Where:

sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg/
    sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.raw
    sub-control01_ses-001_task-rest_run-01_meg.raw.mhd

Aalto MEG–MRI

For stand-alone MEG data, the Aalto hybrid device uses the standard .fif data format and follows the conventions of Elekta/Neuromag as described above in section 5.2. The .fif files may contain unreconstructed MRI data. The inclusion of MRI data and information for accurate reconstruction will be fully standardized at a later stage.