- P-ISSN 1010-0695
- E-ISSN 2288-3339
Objective: The propose of this study is to build a conceptual framework for representing clinical findings in Traditional East Asian Medicine(TEAM). As the existing standard models have been developed without considering features of Traditional Medicine, in this study we introduced unique characteristics for the TEAM. Method: This study was composed of three steps. First, we analyzed whether the existing clinical information models are suitable for representing clinical findings. Second, we analyzed ISO/TS 22789 model which is a ISO medical informatics standard, to find out the problem by applying clinical findings of TEAM into the model. Finally, we defined semantic links and a concept hierarchy in our model based on the analyzed results. The model includes the concepts for clinical findings and terms, and the semantic links can be regarded as relations between concepts, so that the representating clinical findings are completed by connecting concepts with other concepts. Results: Our framework was developed by removing unnecessary semantic links, and adding some necessary ones based on ISO/TS 22789 model. The ISO/TS 22789 model has a simple concept hierarchy, but in this study we subdivided the hierarchy and also considered interoperability with other terminological systems and standard models. Conclusions: This research needs more discussions, but is meaningful as proposing a way how to develop Traditional Medicine terminological systems. This study shows the limitations of existing models in describing clinical findings for TEAM, and what should be considered to represent Traditional Medicine knowledge, and propose a solution to improve the problem.
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