Utilizing detailed anatomical knowledge for hypothesis formation and hypothesis testing in rheumatological decision support

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Abstract

Diagnostic decisions in rheumatology are based to a large extent on a good understanding of the anatomy of the human body. A decision support system for rheumatology has to represent this fundamental anatomical knowledge in order to be able to reason about causal relationships between disturbances affecting the musculoskeletal system. We have built a knowledge-based system incorporating a detailed representation of the anatomy. This yields two main advantages: (1) it enables us to build generic disease descriptions. Instantiation automatically constructs specific disease descriptions by filling in the anatomical details which describe the situation of the patient; (2) the system provides a user interface showing all the anatomical details within the context of the patient's problem. This is essential for the intended field of application, namely, primary medical care. This paper concentrates on the usage of the anatomical knowledge during hypothesis formation and during hypothesis testing.

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