The representation of medical concepts should provide the flexibility required to support several purposes. We have implemented a model in which medical terms are represented in a standard format based on a semantic description of the terms. We have focused on the description of procedures. Underlying this project is the assumption that information about medical procedures is crucial in the healthcare system. A prototype has been developed for urology. Because of the large number of terms in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) and the abundance of links between them, we have experimented in the use of the UMLS as the foundation for our concept base. We assess the usefulness of this approach and discuss its improvements.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.