An object-oriented, knowledge-based system for cardiovascular rehabilitation
Robert M. Ryder · TigerPrints (Clemson University) · 1992
Cardiovascular rehabilitation is an interdisciplinary medical care program which includes patient specific exercise therapy, stress management, psychological counseling, aggressive dietary lipid management and extensive patient education to modify lifestyle factors which place the heart at risk. This research investigates the development of an intelligent clinical database/knowledge base system to assist in the management of the cardiovascular rehabilitation patient. Utilizing development tools for the database and knowledge base implementation, the prototype system maintains a rehabilitation clinical database and provides a rule-based system for automated therapy planning and risk monitoring. The extensive database contains over 400 variables in over 20 clinical specialties, fulfilling daily rehabilitation requirements in addition to supporting long-term, epidemiological studies. The database is designed utilizing an object-oriented paradigm; the software consists of new and modified classes added to a standard Smalltalk environment. The knowledge base retrieves parameter values from the database into a forward-chaining rule structure. Additional Smalltalk methods were added to accomplish an interface between the database and knowledge base. The system was evaluated by analyzing patient records provided by the rehabilitation clinic, completing risk analysis and reviewing the therapy plan for each patient. Risk categorizations and therapy plan deficiencies produced by the system agreed with the staff's recommendations.