Premature birth is one of the major perinatal health issues across the world. In 2007, the
estimated Canadian preterm birth rate was 8.1 % (CIHI, 2009). Recent research has shown that
conditions, such as nosocomial infections or apnoeas, exhibit certain variations in the baby's
physiological parameters which can indicate the onset of the event before it can be detected by
physicians and nurses. Neonatal Intensive Care Units are some of the highest information
producing areas in hospitals. The multidimensional and distributed nature of the data further adds
another layer of complexity as physiological changes can occur in one data stream or can be
cross-correlated between several streams. With the collection and storage of electronic data
becoming a global trend, there is an opportunity to analyse the collected data in order to extract
meaningful information and improve healthcare. The aforementioned properties of the data
motivate the need for a framework that supports analysis and trend detection in a
multidimensional and distributed environment
