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At least 1,009 records · Page 56Linked to original sources

A java-based application for differential diagnosis of hematopoietic neoplasms using immunophenotyping by flow cytometry.

We describe the implementation of a Java-based application for differential diagnosis of hematopoietic neoplasms using immunophenotyping by flow cytometry. The current version of this Java applet includes the knowledge-base for 33 hematopoietic neoplasms and 43 diagnostic immunophenotyping markers. Java, a new object-oriented computing language, helps facilitate development of this applet, a platform-independent module that can be implemented on the World Wide Web. As the Web rapidly becomes more accessible to users around the world, Web-based software may eventually form the core of decision-support systems in clinical settings. Java-based applications, such as the one described in this paper, are expected to contribute significantly in this area.

Antigens, CD↗

Using an image-extended relational database to support content-based image retrieval in a PACS.

This paper presents a new Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), called cbPACS, which has content-based image retrieval capabilities. The cbPACS answers range and k-nearest- neighbor similarity queries, employing a relational database manager extended to support images. The images are compared through their features, which are extracted by an image-processing module and stored in the extended relational database. The database extensions were developed aiming at efficiently answering similarity queries by taking advantage of specialized indexing methods. The main concept supporting the extensions is the definition, inside the relational manager, of distance functions based on features extracted from the images. An extension to the SQL language enables the construction of an interpreter that intercepts the extended commands and translates them to standard SQL, allowing any relational database server to be used. By now, the system implemented works on features based on color distribution of the images through normalized histograms as well as metric histograms. Metric histograms are invariant regarding scale, translation and rotation of images and also to brightness transformations. The cbPACS is prepared to integrate new image features, based on texture and shape of the main objects in the image.

Information Storage and Retrieval↗

A web-based federated neuroinformatics model for surgical planning and clinical research applications in epilepsy.

There is an increasing need to efficiently share diverse clinical and image data among different clinics, labs, and departments of a medical center enterprise to facilitate better quality care and more effective clinical research. In this paper, we describe a web-based, federated information model as a viable technical solution with applications in medical refractory epilepsy and other neurological disorders. We describe four such online applications developed in a federated system prototype: surgical planning, image analysis, statistical data analysis, and dynamic extraction, transforming, and loading (ETL) of data from a heterogeneous collection of data sources into an epilepsy multimedia data warehouse (EMDW). The federated information system adopts a three-tiered architecture, consisting of a user-interface layer, an application logic layer, and a data service layer. We implemented two complementary federated information technologies, i.e., XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture), in the prototype to enable multimedia data exchange and brain images transmission. The preliminary results show that the federated prototype system provides a uniform interface, heterogeneous information integration and efficient data sharing for users in our institution who are concerned with the care of patients with epilepsy and who pursue research in this area.

Animals↗

A medical imaging and visualization toolkit in Java.

Medical imaging research and clinical applications usually require combination and integration of various techniques ranging from image processing and analysis to realistic visualization to user-friendly interaction. Researchers with different backgrounds coming from diverse areas have been using numerous types of hardware, software, and environments to obtain their results. We also observe that students often build their tools from scratch resulting in redundant work. A generic and flexible medical imaging and visualization toolkit would be helpful in medical research and educational institutes to reduce redundant development work and hence increase research efficiency. This paper presents our experience in developing a Medical Imaging and Visualization Toolkit (BIL-kit) that is a set of comprehensive libraries as well as a number of interactive tools. The BIL-kit covers a wide range of fundamental functions from image conversion and transformation, image segmentation, and analysis to geometric model generation and manipulation, all the way up to 3D visualization and interactive simulation. The toolkit design and implementation emphasize the reusability and flexibility. BIL-kit is implemented in the Java language so that it works in hybrid and dynamic research and educational environments. This also allows the toolkit to extend its usage for the development of Web-based applications. Several BIL-kit-based tools and applications are presented including image converter, image processor, general anatomy model simulator, vascular modeling environment, and volume viewer. BIL-kit is a suitable platform for researchers and students to develop visualization and simulation prototypes, and it can also be used for the development of clinical applications.

Algorithms↗

The Graphical Query Language: a tool for analysis of gene expression time-courses.

UNLABELLED: The Graphical Query Language (GQL) is a set of tools for the analysis of gene expression time-courses. They allow a user to pre-process the data, to query it for interesting patterns, to perform model-based clustering or mixture estimation, to include subsequent refinements of clusters and, finally, to use other biological resources to evaluate the results. Analyses are carried out in a graphical and interactive environment, allowing expert intervention in all stages of the data analysis. AVAILABILITY: The GQL package is freely available under the GNU general public license (GPL) at http://www.ghmm.org/gql

Computer Graphics↗

Integration of clinical practice guidelines into a distributed regional electronic patient record for tumour-patients using XML: a means for standardization of the treatment processes.

With the rising efforts to guarantee a high quality treatment in medicine and to reduce the costs in the health care system, Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) have developed into a very important reference in medicine. CPGs are especially useful for the standardization of multi-professional treatment processes like the care for patients with malignant diseases. The Tumour-Centre Heidelberg/Mannheim (Germany) leads a project to build up a regional, virtual distributed Electronic Patient Record (EPR) for patients with malignant diseases in the Rhein-Neckar-Area. Aims of the first stages of the project are the introduction of the distributed EPR to two co-operating pilot-clinics. In this context we intend to provide access for medical professionals not only to the data of the jointly treated patients, but also to relevant existing CPGs and other medical knowledge sources like Medline and Cochrane-Library. Knowledge and Patient data should be interlinked to offer patient-specific views on the CPG-information. As all professions have different information needs, this views should be presented individualized according to the demands of the users. We analysed three relevant CPGs and defined a meta-structure that will be refined to a common meta-structure for CPGs in Oncology. CPGs as well as structured patient-documents will be implemented in the Extensible Markup Language (XML), as this platform-independent technology seems to suit our needs for data exchange and presentation purposes best. The implementation process will be accompanied tightly with evaluations to gain experience for further expansions of the EPR. The vision of the project is, that by integrating CPGs in a shared distributed EPR, the way towards standardized treatment processes in a local, but multi-professional setting, and the efforts to guarantee a high quality treatment in Oncology can sufficiently be supported.

Computer Communication Networks↗

A general architecture for intelligent tutoring of diagnostic classification problem solving.

We report on a general architecture for creating knowledge-based medical training systems to teach diagnostic classification problem solving. The approach is informed by our previous work describing the development of expertise in classification problem solving in Pathology. The architecture envelops the traditional Intelligent Tutoring System design within the Unified Problem-solving Method description Language (UPML) architecture, supporting component modularity and reuse. Based on the domain ontology, domain task ontology and case data, the abstract problem-solving methods of the expert model create a dynamic solution graph. Student interaction with the solution graph is filtered through an instructional layer, which is created by a second set of abstract problem-solving methods and pedagogic ontologies, in response to the current state of the student model. We outline the advantages and limitations of this general approach, and describe it's implementation in SlideTutor - a developing Intelligent Tutoring System in Dermatopathology.

Artificial Intelligence↗

The Cadmio XML healthcare record.

The management of clinical data is a complex task. Patient related information reported in patient folders is a set of heterogeneous and structured data accessed by different users having different goals (in local or geographical networks). XML language provides a mechanism for describing, manipulating, and visualising structured data in web-based applications. XML ensures that the structured data is managed in a uniform and transparent manner independently from the applications and their providers guaranteeing some interoperability. Extracting data from the healthcare record and structuring them according to XML makes the data available through browsers. The MIC/MIE model (Medical Information Category/Medical Information Elements), which allows the definition and management of healthcare records and used in CADMIO, a HISA based project, is described in this paper, using XML for allowing the data to be visualised through web browsers.

Italy↗

Plug-and-play XML: a health care perspective.

The application of XML (Extensible Markup Language) is still costly. The authors present an approach to ease the development of XML applications. They have developed a Web-based framework that combines existing XML resources into a comprehensive XML application. The XML framework is model-driven, i.e., the authors primarily design XML document models (XML schema, document type definition), and users can enter, search, and view related XML documents using a Web browser. The XML model itself is flexible and might be composed of existing model standards. The second part of the paper relates the approach of the authors to some problems frequently encountered in the clinical documentation process.

Documentation↗

cluML: A markup language for clustering and cluster validity assessment of microarray data.

cluML is a new markup language for microarray data clustering and cluster validity assessment. The XML-based format has been designed to address some of the limitations observed in traditional formats, such as inability to store multiple clustering (including biclustering) and validation results within a dataset. cluML is an effective tool to support biomedical knowledge representation in gene expression data analysis. Although cluML was developed for DNA microarray analysis applications, it can be effectively used for the representation of clustering and for the validation of other biomedical and physical data that has no limitations.

Algorithms↗

Knowledge representation for platform-independent structured reporting.

Structured reporting systems allow health care providers to record observations using predetermined data elements and formats. We present a generalized language, based on the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), for platform-independent structured reporting. DRML (Data-entry and Report Markup Language) specifies hierarchically organized concepts to be included in data-entry forms and reports. DRML documents serve as the knowledge base for SPIDER, a reporting system that uses the World Wide Web as its data-entry medium. SPIDER generates platform-independent documents that incorporate familiar data-entry objects such as text windows, checkboxes, and radio buttons. From the data entered on these forms, SPIDER uses its knowledge base to generate outline-format textual reports, and creates datasets for analysis of aggregate results. DRML allows knowledge engineers to design a wide variety of clinical reports and survey instruments.

Computer Communication Networks↗

NeuronC: a computational language for investigating functional architecture of neural circuits.

A computational language was developed to simulate neural circuits. A model of a neural circuit with up to 50,000 compartments is constructed from predefined parts of neurons, called "neural elements". A 2-dimensional (2-D) light stimulus and a photoreceptor model allow simulating a visual physiology experiment. Circuit function is computed by integrating difference equations according to standard methods. Large-scale structure in the neural circuit, such as whole neurons, their synaptic connections, and arrays of neurons, are constructed with procedural rules. The language was evaluated with a simulation of the receptive field of a single cone in cat retina, which required a model of cone-horizontal cell network on the order of 1000 neurons. The model was calibrated by adjusting biophysical parameters to match known physiological data. Eliminating specific synaptic connections from the circuit suggested the influence of individual neuron types on the receptive field of a single cone. An advantage of using neural elements in such a model is to simplify the description of a neuron's structure. An advantage of using procedural rules to define connections between neurons is to simplify the network definition.

Computer Simulation↗

A generalized language for platform-independent structured reporting.

Structured reporting systems allow health-care workers to record observations using predetermined data elements and formats. The author developed the Data-entry and Reporting Markup Language (DRML) to provide a generalized representational language for describing concepts to be included in structured reporting applications. DRML is based on the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), an internationally accepted standard for document interchange. The use of DRML is demonstrated with the SPIDER system, which uses public-domain internet technology for structured data entry and reporting. SPIDER uses DRML documents to create structured data-entry forms, outline-format textual reports, and datasets for analysis of aggregate results. Applications of DRML include its use in radiology results reporting and a health status questionnaire. DRML allows system designers to create a wide variety of clinical reporting applications and survey instruments, and helps overcome some of the limitations seen in earlier structured reporting systems.

Forms and Records Control↗

The syntax and semantics of the PROforma guideline modeling language.

PROforma is an executable process modeling language that has been used successfully to build and deploy a range of decision support systems, guidelines, and other clinical applications. It is one of a number of recent proposals for representing clinical protocols and guidelines in a machine-executable format (see ). In this report, the authors outline the task model for the language and provide an operational semantics for process enactment together with a semantics for expressions, which may be used to query the state of a task during enactment. The operational semantics includes a number of public operations that may be performed on an application by an external agent, including operations that change the values of data items, recommend or make decisions, manage tasks that have been performed, and perform any task state changes that are implied by the current state of the application. Disclosure: PROforma has been used as the basis of a commercial decision support and guideline technology Arezzo (Infermed, London, UK; details in text).

Decision Support Systems, Clinical↗

Evolving a lingua franca and associated software infrastructure for computational systems biology: the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) project.

Biologists are increasingly recognising that computational modelling is crucial for making sense of the vast quantities of complex experimental data that are now being collected. The systems biology field needs agreed-upon information standards if models are to be shared, evaluated and developed cooperatively. Over the last four years, our team has been developing the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) in collaboration with an international community of modellers and software developers. SBML has become a de facto standard format for representing formal, quantitative and qualitative models at the level of biochemical reactions and regulatory networks. In this article, we summarise the current and upcoming versions of SBML and our efforts at developing software infrastructure for supporting and broadening its use. We also provide a brief overview of the many SBML-compatible software tools available today.

Biochemistry↗

MDB: a database system utilizing automatic construction of modules and STAR-derived universal language.

MOTIVATION: The value of information greatly increases if stored in databases. The objective was to construct a multi-purpose database system primarily designed to store and provide access to three-dimensional structures of biological molecules including theoretical models. RESULTS: A dictionary defining data format and structure for three-dimensional models of biological molecules (MDB dictionary) was developed. The dictionary was written using universal, standardized data description language. This language can be applied to describe data with no restrictions on their origin or type, including metadata. Thus both the data definitions (format) and database descriptions are created using the uniform language and processed with universal software. A database and data design technique that allowed use of dictionaries to automatically construct relational databases was developed. This technique was employed to construct the MDB database system. Data design developed and applied in the MDB project makes it possible to carry out data curation utilizing the database engine to identify errors. It also allows storage and query of data at different levels of consistency with the standard format specifications, i.e. both the correctly formatted data, and data that requires further curation. AVAILABILITY: The MDB dictionary is available at http://www.gwer.ch/proteinstructure/mdb and as part of the PDB resources at http://pdb.rutgers.edu/mmcif/.

Computational Biology↗

Chemical effects in biological systems (CEBS) object model for toxicology data, SysTox-OM: design and application.

MOTIVATION: The CEBS data repository is being developed to promote a systems biology approach to understand the biological effects of environmental stressors. CEBS will house data from multiple gene expression platforms (transcriptomics), protein expression and protein-protein interaction (proteomics), and changes in low molecular weight metabolite levels (metabolomics) aligned by their detailed toxicological context. The system will accommodate extensive complex querying in a user-friendly manner. CEBS will store toxicological contexts including the study design details, treatment protocols, animal characteristics and conventional toxicological endpoints such as histopathology findings and clinical chemistry measures. All of these data types can be integrated in a seamless fashion to enable data query and analysis in a biologically meaningful manner. RESULTS: An object model, the SysBio-OM (Xirasagar et al., 2004) has been designed to facilitate the integration of microarray gene expression, proteomics and metabolomics data in the CEBS database system. We now report SysTox-OM as an open source systems toxicology model designed to integrate toxicological context into gene expression experiments. The SysTox-OM model is comprehensive and leverages other open source efforts, namely, the Standard for Exchange of Nonclinical Data (http://www.cdisc.org/models/send/v2/index.html) which is a data standard for capturing toxicological information for animal studies and Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (http://www.cdisc.org/models/sdtm/index.html) that serves as a standard for the exchange of clinical data. Such standardization increases the accuracy of data mining, interpretation and exchange. The open source SysTox-OM model, which can be implemented on various software platforms, is presented here. AVAILABILITY: A universal modeling language (UML) depiction of the entire SysTox-OM is available at http://cebs.niehs.nih.gov and the Rational Rose object model package is distributed under an open source license that permits unrestricted academic and commercial use and is available at http://cebs.niehs.nih.gov/cebsdownloads. Currently, the public toxicological data in CEBS can be queried via a web application based on the SysTox-OM at http://cebs.niehs.nih.gov CONTACT: xirasagars@saic.com SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Computational Biology↗

The application of the unified modeling language in object-oriented analysis of healthcare information systems.

This paper concerns itself with the beneficial effects of the Unified Modeling Language (UML), a nonproprietary object modeling standard, in specifying, visualizing, constructing, documenting, and communicating the model of a healthcare information system from the user's perspective. The author outlines the process of object-oriented analysis (OOA) using the UML and illustrates this with healthcare examples to demonstrate the practicality of application of the UML by healthcare personnel to real-world information system problems. The UML will accelerate advanced uses of object-orientation such as reuse technology, resulting in significantly higher software productivity. The UML is also applicable in the context of a component paradigm that promises to enhance the capabilities of healthcare information systems and simplify their management and maintenance.

Information Systems↗