243 research outputs found
Conceptual graph-based knowledge representation for supporting reasoning in African traditional medicine
Although African patients use both conventional or modern and traditional healthcare simultaneously, it has been proven that 80% of people rely on African traditional medicine (ATM). ATM includes medical activities stemming from practices, customs and traditions which were integral to the distinctive African cultures. It is based mainly on the oral transfer of knowledge, with the risk of losing critical knowledge. Moreover, practices differ according to the regions and the availability of medicinal plants. Therefore, it is necessary to compile tacit, disseminated and complex knowledge from various Tradi-Practitioners (TP) in order to determine interesting patterns for treating a given disease. Knowledge engineering methods for traditional medicine are useful to model suitably complex information needs, formalize knowledge of domain experts and highlight the effective practices for their integration to conventional medicine. The work described in this paper presents an approach which addresses two issues. First it aims at proposing a formal representation model of ATM knowledge and practices to facilitate their sharing and reusing. Then, it aims at providing a visual reasoning mechanism for selecting best available procedures and medicinal plants to treat diseases. The approach is based on the use of the Delphi method for capturing knowledge from various experts which necessitate reaching a consensus. Conceptual graph formalism is used to model ATM knowledge with visual reasoning capabilities and processes. The nested conceptual graphs are used to visually express the semantic meaning of Computational Tree Logic (CTL) constructs that are useful for formal specification of temporal properties of ATM domain knowledge. Our approach presents the advantage of mitigating knowledge loss with conceptual development assistance to improve the quality of ATM care (medical diagnosis and therapeutics), but also patient safety (drug monitoring)
How to interact with medical terminologies? Formative usability evaluations comparing three approaches for supporting the use of MedDRA by pharmacovigilance specialists
Background: Medical terminologies are commonly used in medicine. For instance, to answer a pharmacovigilance question, pharmacovigilance specialists (PVS) search in a pharmacovigilance database for reports in relation to a given drug. To do that, they first need to identify all MedDRA terms that might have been used to code an adverse reaction in the database, but terms may be numerous and difficult to select as they may belong to different parts of the hierarchy. In previous studies, three tools have been developed to help PVS identify and group all relevant MedDRA terms using three different approaches: forms, structured query-builder, and icons. Yet, a poor usability of the tools may increase PVS' workload and reduce their performance. This study aims to evaluate, compare and improve the three tools during two rounds of formative usability evaluation.
Methods: First, a cognitive walkthrough was performed. Based on the design recommendations obtained from this evaluation, designers made modifications to their tools to improve usability. Once this re-engineering phase completed, six PVS took part in a usability test: difficulties, errors and verbalizations during their interaction with the three tools were collected. Their satisfaction was measured through the System Usability Scale. The design recommendations issued from the tests were used to adapt the tools.
Results: All tools had usability problems related to the lack of guidance in the graphical user interface (e.g., unintuitive labels). In two tools, the use of the SNOMED CT to find MedDRA terms hampered their use because French PVS were not used to it. For the most obvious and common terms, the icons-based interface would appear to be more useful. For the less frequently used MedDRA terms or those distributed in different parts of the hierarchy, the structured query-builder would be preferable thanks to its great power and flexibility. The form-based tool seems to be a compromise.
Conclusion: These evaluations made it possible to identify the strengths of each tool but also their weaknesses to address them before further evaluation. Next step is to assess the acceptability of tools and the expressiveness of their results to help identify and group MedDRA terms
Unveiling the Power of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Molecules to Medicines
Precision Medicine is a notable development in the field, representing a significant departure from traditional approaches. This novel approach involves the customization of therapeutic interventions based on an individual's unique genetic and molecular profile. The integration of pharmaceutical sciences and Precision Medicine holds great potential to transform the field of healthcare by providing therapeutic interventions that optimize effectiveness while mitigating potential risks. Pharmaceutical formulations and dosage design are fundamental components of medication administration. The landscape of medication administration is being redefined by the emergence of novel drug delivery technologies. Nanotechnology, sustained-release formulations, and implantable devices present innovative strategies for drug targeting, absorption, and release, thereby holding potential for personalized, efficient, and patient-centric therapeutic interventions. Pharmacovigilance and post-market surveillance encompass the comprehensive monitoring of adverse effects and safety concerns, extending beyond the mere approval of drugs. The safeguarding process in place ensures that the advantages of medications consistently surpass potential risks, thereby enhancing the overall well-being of patients
Composição de serviços para aplicações biomédicas
Doutoramento em Engenharia InformáticaA exigente inovação na área das aplicações biomédicas tem guiado a evolução
das tecnologias de informação nas últimas décadas. Os desafios associados a
uma gestão, integração, análise e interpretação eficientes dos dados
provenientes das mais modernas tecnologias de hardware e software
requerem um esforço concertado. Desde hardware para sequenciação de
genes a registos electrónicos de paciente, passando por pesquisa de
fármacos, a possibilidade de explorar com precisão os dados destes
ambientes é vital para a compreensão da saúde humana. Esta tese engloba a
discussão e o desenvolvimento de melhores estratégias informáticas para
ultrapassar estes desafios, principalmente no contexto da composição de
serviços, incluindo técnicas flexíveis de integração de dados, como
warehousing ou federação, e técnicas avançadas de interoperabilidade, como
serviços web ou LinkedData.
A composição de serviços é apresentada como um ideal genérico, direcionado
para a integração de dados e para a interoperabilidade de software.
Relativamente a esta última, esta investigação debruçou-se sobre o campo da
farmacovigilância, no contexto do projeto Europeu EU-ADR. As contribuições
para este projeto, um novo standard de interoperabilidade e um motor de
execução de workflows, sustentam a sucesso da EU-ADR Web Platform, uma
plataforma para realizar estudos avançados de farmacovigilância. No contexto
do projeto Europeu GEN2PHEN, esta investigação visou ultrapassar os
desafios associados à integração de dados distribuídos e heterogéneos no
campo do varíoma humano. Foi criada uma nova solução, WAVe - Web
Analyses of the Variome, que fornece uma coleção rica de dados de variação
genética através de uma interface Web inovadora e de uma API avançada. O
desenvolvimento destas estratégias evidenciou duas oportunidades claras na
área de software biomédico: melhorar o processo de implementação de
software através do recurso a técnicas de desenvolvimento rápidas e
aperfeiçoar a qualidade e disponibilidade dos dados através da adopção do
paradigma de web semântica.
A plataforma COEUS atravessa as fronteiras de integração e
interoperabilidade, fornecendo metodologias para a aquisição e tradução
flexíveis de dados, bem como uma camada de serviços interoperáveis para
explorar semanticamente os dados agregados. Combinando as técnicas de
desenvolvimento rápidas com a riqueza da perspectiva "Semantic Web in a
box", a plataforma COEUS é uma aproximação pioneira, permitindo o
desenvolvimento da próxima geração de aplicações biomédicas.The demand for innovation in the biomedical software domain has been an
information technologies evolution driver over the last decades. The challenges
associated with the effective management, integration, analyses and
interpretation of the wealth of life sciences information stemming from modern
hardware and software technologies require concerted efforts. From gene
sequencing hardware to pharmacology research up to patient electronic health
records, the ability to accurately explore data from these environments is vital
to further improve our understanding of human health. This thesis encloses the
discussion on building better informatics strategies to address these
challenges, primarily in the context of service composition, including
warehousing and federation strategies for resource integration, as well as web
services or LinkedData for software interoperability.
Service composition is introduced as a general principle, geared towards data
integration and software interoperability. Concerning the latter, this research
covers the service composition requirements within the pharmacovigilance
field, namely on the European EU-ADR project. The contributions to this area,
the definition of a new interoperability standard and the creation of a new
workflow-wrapping engine, are behind the successful construction of the EUADR
Web Platform, a workspace for delivering advanced pharmacovigilance
studies. In the context of the European GEN2PHEN project, this research
tackles the challenges associated with the integration of heterogeneous and
distributed data in the human variome field. For this matter, a new lightweight
solution was created: WAVe, Web Analysis of the Variome, provides a rich
collection of genetic variation data through an innovative portal and an
advanced API. The development of the strategies underlying these products
highlighted clear opportunities in the biomedical software field: enhancing the
software implementation process with rapid application development
approaches and improving the quality and availability of data with the adoption
of the Semantic Web paradigm.
COEUS crosses the boundaries of integration and interoperability as it provides
a framework for the flexible acquisition and translation of data into a semantic
knowledge base, as well as a comprehensive set of interoperability services,
from REST to LinkedData, to fully exploit gathered data semantically. By
combining the lightness of rapid application development strategies with the
richness of its "Semantic Web in a box" approach, COEUS is a pioneering
framework to enhance the development of the next generation of biomedical
applications
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