Theme C: Medical information systems and databases - results and future work

International audienceThis paper presents the activities of the theme C “medical information systems and databases” in the GDR Stic Santé. Six one-day workshops have been organized during the period 2011–2012. They were devoted to 1) sharing anatomical and physiological object models for simulation of clinical medical images, 2) advantages and limitations of datawarehouse for biological data, 3) medical information engineering, 4) systems for sharing medical images for research, 5) knowledge engineering for semantic interoperability in e-health applications, and 6) using context in health. In the future, our activities will continue with a specific interest on information systems for translational medicine and the role of electronic healthcare reports in decision-making. Workshops with other research groups will be organized in particular with the e-health research group

A sustainable visual representation of available histopathological digital knowledge for breast cancer grading

Background Recently, anatomic pathology (AP) has seen the introduction of several tools such as slide scanners and virtual slide technologies, creating the conditions for broader adoption of computer aided diagnosis based on whole slide images (WSI). This change brings up a number of new scientific challenges such as the sustainable management of the explicit and unambiguous semantics associated to the diagnostic interpretation of AP images by both humans (pathologists) and computers (image analysis algorithms) . In order to reduce inter-observer variability between AP reports of malignant tumors, the College of American Pathologists edited more than 60 organ-specific Cancer Checklists and associated Protocols (CAP-CC&P). Each checklist includes a set of AP observations that are expected to be reported by pathologists in organ-specific AP cancer reports. Our objective was to i) identify the available histopathological formalized knowledge from NCBO Bioportal and UMLS metathesaurus in the scope of the CAP CC&P for breast cancer grading and ii) to build a sustainable visual representation of this knowledge using UMLS semantic types. Methods Our methodology was applied on the two breast cancer CAP-CC&Ps dedicated to invasive carcinoma (IC) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). We focused on a subset of quantifiable AP observations of the CAP-CCs - i.e. observable entities that could be computed by image analysis tools and on the corresponding notes in the protocols that unambiguously describe how pathologists should derive a high-level observation (e.g. Nottingham score) from low-level morphological characteristics observed in images (e.g. mitotic count or glandular/tubular differentiation).The notes were annotated manually by two AP experts (gold standard) and automatically by NCBO Annotator using the 508 ontologies available on the NCBO platform. A sub-set of reference ontologies was selected based on their capacities to automatically identify concepts in the notes and compared to the subset of ontologies selected based on their capacity to identify the concepts identified by experts (gold standard). Once automatically extracted from the notes, the concepts belonging to different ontologies, were integrated into a unique graph and organized according to UMLS semantic types. Results The most relevant biomedical ontologies to be used for the annotation of the notes describing quantifiable observable entities of breast cancer CAP-CC&Ps are SNOMED-CT, LOINC, NCIT, NCI CaDSR Value Sets and PathLex. A visual representation integrating 25 concepts from the 5 different ontologies organized according to 11 UMLS semantic types was built to support AP experts for building a formal representation of the low-level quantifiable entities automatically extracted from the CAP-CC&Ps notes. Conclusion The proposed approach and tools, based on the CAP-CC&Ps, aim at supporting AP experts in building a standard-based representation of low-level morphological abnormalities observed in cancer that can be quantified using image analysis tools. This effort is complementary to the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) initiative building a standard-based representation of high-level AP observations required in cancer AP reports. Additional efforts are needed to achieve a workable standard-based formal representation of histopathological knowledge integrating both observable entities reported by humans (pathologists) and quantifiable entities automatically computed by machines. Providing such unique formal representation paves the way for more efficient use of computer aided diagnosis in AP as well as for the development of new biomarkers based on automatic analysis of whole slide images (WSI)

Computational Advances in Drug Safety: Systematic and Mapping Review of Knowledge Engineering Based Approaches

Drug Safety (DS) is a domain with significant public health and social impact. Knowledge Engineering (KE) is the Computer Science discipline elaborating on methods and tools for developing “knowledge-intensive” systems, depending on a conceptual “knowledge” schema and some kind of “reasoning” process. The present systematic and mapping review aims to investigate KE-based approaches employed for DS and highlight the introduced added value as well as trends and possible gaps in the domain. Journal articles published between 2006 and 2017 were retrieved from PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science® (873 in total) and filtered based on a comprehensive set of inclusion/exclusion criteria. The 80 finally selected articles were reviewed on full-text, while the mapping process relied on a set of concrete criteria (concerning specific KE and DS core activities, special DS topics, employed data sources, reference ontologies/terminologies, and computational methods, etc.). The analysis results are publicly available as online interactive analytics graphs. The review clearly depicted increased use of KE approaches for DS. The collected data illustrate the use of KE for various DS aspects, such as Adverse Drug Event (ADE) information collection, detection, and assessment. Moreover, the quantified analysis of using KE for the respective DS core activities highlighted room for intensifying research on KE for ADE monitoring, prevention and reporting. Finally, the assessed use of the various data sources for DS special topics demonstrated extensive use of dominant data sources for DS surveillance, i.e., Spontaneous Reporting Systems, but also increasing interest in the use of emerging data sources, e.g., observational healthcare databases, biochemical/genetic databases, and social media. Various exemplar applications were identified with promising results, e.g., improvement in Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) prediction, detection of drug interactions, and novel ADE profiles related with specific mechanisms of action, etc. Nevertheless, since the reviewed studies mostly concerned proof-of-concept implementations, more intense research is required to increase the maturity level that is necessary for KE approaches to reach routine DS practice. In conclusion, we argue that efficiently addressing DS data analytics and management challenges requires the introduction of high-throughput KE-based methods for effective knowledge discovery and management, resulting ultimately, in the establishment of a continuous learning DS system

Semantic Queries Expedite MedDRA Terms Selection Thanks to a Dedicated User Interface: A Pilot Study on Five Medical Conditions

Background: Searching into the MedDRA terminology is usually limited to a hierarchical search, and/or a string search. Our objective was to compare user performances when using a new kind of user interface enabling semantic queries versus classical methods, and evaluating term selection improvement in MedDRA.Methods: We implemented a forms-based web interface: OntoADR Query Tools (OQT). It relies on OntoADR, a formal resource describing MedDRA terms using SNOMED CT concepts and corresponding semantic relations, enabling terminological reasoning. We then compared time spent on five examples of medical conditions using OQT or the MedDRA web-based browser (MWB), and precision and recall of the term selection.Results: OntoADR Query Tools allows the user to search in MedDRA: One may enter search criteria by selecting one semantic property from a dropdown list and one or more SNOMED CT concepts related to the range of the chosen property. The user is assisted in building his query: he can add criteria and combine them. Then, the interface displays the set of MedDRA terms matching the query. Meanwhile, on average, the time spent on OQT (about 4 min 30 s) is significantly lower (−35%; p < 0.001) than time spent on MWB (about 7 min). The results of the System Usability Scale (SUS) gave a score of 62.19 for OQT (rated as good). We also demonstrated increased precision (+27%; p = 0.01) and recall (+34%; p = 0.02). Computed “performance” (correct terms found per minute) is more than three times better with OQT than with MWB.Discussion: This pilot study establishes the feasibility of our approach based on our initial assumption: performing MedDRA queries on the five selected medical conditions, using terminological reasoning, expedites term selection, and improves search capabilities for pharmacovigilance end users. Evaluation with a larger number of users and medical conditions are required in order to establish if OQT is appropriate for the needs of different user profiles, and to check if conclusions can be extended to other kinds of medical conditions. The application is currently limited by the non-exhaustive coverage of MedDRA by OntoADR, but nevertheless shows good performance which encourages continuing in the same direction

User-centered design of the C3-cloud platform for elderly with multiple diseases - functional requirements and application testing

The number of patients with multimorbidity has been steadily increasing in the modern aging societies. The European C3-Cloud project provides a multidisciplinary and patient-centered “Collaborative Care and Cure-system” for the management of elderly with multimorbidity, enabling continuous coordination of care activities between multidisciplinary care teams (MDTs), patients and informal caregivers (ICG). In this study various components of the infrastructure were tested to fulfill the functional requirements and the entire system was subjected to an early application testing involving different groups of end-users. MDTs from participating European regions were involved in requirement elicitation and test formulation, resulting in 57 questions, distributed via an internet platform to 48 test participants (22 MDTs, 26 patients) from three pilot sites. The results indicate a high level of satisfaction with all components. Early testing also provided feedback for technical improvement of the entire system, and the paper points out useful evaluation methods

Localisation, personalisation and delivery of best practice guidelines on an integrated care and cure cloud architecture : the C3-cloud approach to managing multimorbidity

Background: C3-Cloud is an integrated care ICT infrastructure offering seamless patient-centered approach to managing multimorbidity, deployed in three European pilot sites. Challenge: The digital delivery of best practice guidelines unified for multimorbidity, customized to local practice, offering the capability to improve patient personalization and benefit. Method: C3-Cloud has adopted a co-production approach to developing unified multimorbidity guidelines, by collating and reconciling best practice guidelines for each condition. Clinical and technical teams at pilot sites and the C3-Cloud consortium worked in tandem to create the specification and technical implementation. Results: C3-Cloud offers CDSS for diabetes, renal failure, depression and congenital heart failure, with over 300 rules and checks that deliver four best practice guidelines in parallel, customized for each pilot site. Conclusions: The process provided a traceable, maintainable and audited digitally delivered collated and reconciled guidelines

Actes des 16es journées francophones d'Ingénierie des Connaissances (IC 2005)

National audienceLes thèmes abordés dans cette édition 2005 se regroupent de façon assez équilibrée autour des problématiques de construction et d'exploitation d'ontologies d'une part et des problématiques d'ingénierie des connaissances au sein d'organisations et d'entreprises d'autre part. Certains articles amènent des propositions méthodologiques pour la construction d'ontologies à partir de corpus textuels ou à partir de la réutilisation de bases de connaissances déjà existantes. En particulier, on observe un nombre croissant de contributions sur le développement d'outils théoriques et pratiques pour l'alignement automatique d'ontologies existantes , thématique rendue cruciale par le développement du web sémantique. Dans ce domaine mais aussi plus largement dans le domaine du monde documentaire, l'indexation ou l'annotation à partir d'ontologies pour la recherche intelligente d'informations sont également très bien représentés dans cette édition. Par ailleurs, plusieurs articles témoignent de l'ouverture vers d'autres disciplines comme la gestion des connaissances et mémoire d'entreprise, les systèmes d'information, la théorie des organisations, les systèmes de travail coopératif ou l'ingénierie éducative