The Power of Abstract Temporal Diagnosis in Medical Domains
Johann Gamper and Wolfgang Nejdl
Abstract
Two observations motivate this paper: first, the model-based diagnosis
paradigm has been recognized to provide powerful techniques for
automated medical diagnosis, and second, time is inherent in medical
domains, where the capability to deal with various kinds of temporal
information is necessary for a sophisticated diagnosis system in
medicine. In this paper we describe a model-based framework for
diagnosing time-varying systems by using the diagnosis of hepatitis~B
as an example. Based on a logical framework extended by qualitative
and quantitative temporal constraints we show how to describe complex
temporal behavior of systems. We introduce the concept of abstract
observations as an abstraction from observations at time points into
assumptions over time intervals. This leads to a more intuitive
representation and makes the diagnosis system independent of the
number of actual observations and the granularity of time.
Additionally, the concept of abstract temporal diagnoses captures in a
natural way indefinite temporal knowledge we often have about
diagnoses, in particular in medical domains.
Keywords: Diagnosis, Model-based Reasoning, Temporal
Reasoning
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