Guest Editorial: Introduction to the special issue on Biomedical Signal Processing and Analysis selected papers from ITAB 2009

Recent technological advances in medicine have facilitated the development of complex biomedical systems including sophisticated biomedical signal devices and instruments, medical imaging equipment, and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) tools enabling the better delivery of healthcare services. These systems are based on advanced biomedical signal and medical imaging processing and analysis techniques that have emerged as promising tools for the development, application, and implementation of intelligent biomedical systems anddevices. The impact ofthese technologies is demonstrated nowadays via the offering of state of the art e-health services. The aim of this special issue is to provide a snapshot of emerging technologies in biomedical systems and services focused on “Biomedical Signal Processing and Analysis”, based on selected papers presented in the 9th International Special Topic Conference on Information Technology in Biomedicine (ITAB 2009), held in October 2009, in Larnaka, Cyprus (http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/itab2009/). The event was technically cosponsored by the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus University of Technology, and the University of Ioannina. A special issue call was announced and 34 papers were received. All the received papers went through the peer review process of the Biomedical Signal Processing and Control journal. From the submitted papers 14 were accepted for publication, organized under the topics of Biomedical Signal Processing andAnalysis, and Medical Imaging, with 10 and four papers, respectively. These papers are briefly presented in the following section.