Medical informatics = Médecine et informatique
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During the last three decades a great deal of research has been devoted to the development of integrated clinical decision support systems. This report aims to give a basic understanding of what is required for such a system. By means of a large literature study a survey is given of the major components of computer-based clinical aid systems. ⋯ Acceptance by physicians depends among other things on ease of use of the user interface. Profound changes in the delivery of health care will be induced through the rapid growth of on-line computer communication together with the development of integrated clinical decision support systems and electronic medical records. Notwithstanding the rapid growth of computer technology, computer-aided decision making is in its infancy and real support in daily practice is not yet achieved.
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Image indexing, storage, and retrieval based on pictorial content is a feature of image database systems which is becoming of increasing importance in many application domains. Medical image database systems, which support the retrieval of images generated by different modalities based on their pictorial content, will provide added value to future generation picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), and can be used as a diagnostic decision support tools and as a tool for medical research and training. We present the architecture and features of I2C, a system for the indexing, storage, and retrieval of medical images by content. ⋯ Image classes encapsulate different segmentation and image content description algorithms. Medical images are assigned to image classes based on a set of user-defined attributes such as imaging modality, type of study, anatomical characteristics, etc. This class-based treatment of images in the I2C system achieves increased accuracy and efficiency of content-based retrievals, by limiting the search space and allowing specific algorithms to be fine-tuned for images acquired by different modalities or representing different parts of the anatomy.
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A user and dialogue modelling approach is proposed for the development of user interfaces for intelligent patient monitoring systems. Illustrative models and dialogues are developed and simple examples of user interfaces for a monitor system based upon these are presented. The user model and dialogue method is also used to evaluate some interface techniques from the literature.
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This paper considers human-computer interface evaluation in the context of design and development. It is argued that it is not helpful to view evaluation as a method for achieving user-friendliness, rather it should be seen as a participating activity within design and development. ⋯ In fact the very theory underlying the evaluation finds its embodiment in the artifact of the user interface. Taking this view has technical, as well as human factors, implications.