An audio input-output computer system for medical information
Michael Otten, Scott I. Allen, Perry S. Plexico, William Charles White · 1969
An experimental telephone-based input-output system, using low-cost audio response equipment, was implemented on a medium-sized real-time computer. This system enables update of audio vocabulary files from a remote telephone terminal, which is a major feature simplifying program and data base modification. Speech signals are processed with an analog-to-digital converter at the rate of 10,000 samples per second, compressed by a delta modulation program to one bit per sample, and stored on a random access file. Pushbutton telephone input and voice response output are controlled with FORTRAN callable subroutines. Illustrative medical retrieval programs, executable from pushbutton telephones, are based on disease abstracts contained on the digital magnetic tape version of the American Medical Association's (AMA) Current Medical Terminology (CMT). Natural language output from selected paragraphs in the CMT and logical searches of machine-indexed phrases from the CMT are demonstrated. Potential uses and limits of audio response methods in medicine are discussed with an emphasis on time-shared facilities.