Skip to main content

Verification of Medical Guidelines by Model Checking – A Case Study

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 3925))

Abstract

This paper presents a case study on how to apply formal modeling and verification in the context of quality improvement in medical healthcare. The aim is to verify quality requirements of medical guidelines and clinical treatment protocols that are used to standardize patient care both for general practitioners and hospitals. This research is supported by the European Commission’s IST program and brings together experts from computer science, artificial intelligence in medicine, hospitals, and the Dutch Institute for Healthcare Improvement (CBO). We present the process of formal modeling and verification of guidelines using the modeling language Asbru, temporal logic for expressing the quality requirements, and model checking for proof and error detection. The approach is illustrated with a case study on a guideline from the American Association for Pediatrics on “Jaundice in healthy Newborns”.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. American Academy of Pediatrics, Provisional Committee for Quality Improvement and Subcommittee on Hyperbilirubinemia. Practice parameter: management of hyperbilirubinemia in the healthy term newborn Pediatrics 94, 558-565 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Balser, M., Reif, W., Schellhorn, G., Stenzel, K., Thums, A.: Formal system development with KIV. In: Maibaum, T. (ed.) FASE 2000. LNCS, vol. 1783, p. 363. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Balser, M., Duelli, C., Reif, W.: Formal Semantics of Asbru - An Overview. In: Proc. of the 6th World Conference on Integrated Design and Process Technology(IDPT 2002) (June 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Clarke, E.M., Grumberg, O., Long, D.E.: Model checking and abstraction. ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems 16(5), 1512–1542 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Clarke, E.M., Grumberg, O., Peled, D.: Model Checking. MIT Press, Cambridge (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Cousot, P., Cousot, R.: Abstract interpretation: A unified lattice model for static analysis of programs by construction or approximation of fixpoints. In: ACM Symposium of Programming Language, pp. 238–252 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dams, D.: Abstract Interpretation and Partition Refinement for Model Checking. PhD Thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Dams, D., Gerth, R., Grumberg, O.: Abstract interpretation of reactive systems. ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems 19(2), 253–291 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Pnueli, A., Josko, B., Hungar, H., Damm, W.: A Compositional Real-time Semantics of STATEMATE Designs. In: de Roever, W.-P., Langmaack, H., Pnueli, A. (eds.) COMPOS 1997. LNCS, vol. 1536, p. 186. Springer, Heidelberg (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Duftschmid, G., Miksch, S.: Knowledge-based verification of clinical guidelines by detection of anomalies OEGAI Journal, 37 – 39 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Allen Emerson, E.: Temporal and Modal Logic. In: van Leeuwen, J. (ed.) Handbook of Theoretical Computer Science, Volume B: Formal Models and Sematics, pp. 995–1072. North- Holland Pub. Co., MIT Press (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Field, M.J., Lohr, K.N.: Clinical Practice Guidelines: Directions for a New Program. National Academy Press, Washington D.C. (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fox, J., Johns, N., Lyons, C., Rahmanzadeh, A., Thomson, R., Wilson, P.: PROforma: a general technology for clinical decision support systems. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine 54, 59–67 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Godefroid, P., Huth, M., Jagadeesan, R.: Abstraction-based Model Checking using Modal Transition Systems. In: Larsen, K.G., Nielsen, M. (eds.) CONCUR 2001. LNCS, vol. 2154, pp. 426–440. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Grumberg, O.: Abstractions and Reductions in Model Checking. Nato Science Series, vol. 62. Marktoberdorf summer school (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Graf, S., Saidi, H.: Construction of abstract state graphs with PVS. In: Grumberg, O. (ed.) CAV 1997. LNCS, vol. 1254, pp. 72–83. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Long, D.E.: Model checking, Abstraction, and Compositional Reasoning. PhD Thesis, Carnegie Mellon University (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  18. McMillan, K.L.: Symbolic Model Checking: An Approach to the State Explosion Problem. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht (1993)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Shahar, Y., Miksch, S., Johnson, P.: The Asgaard project: a task-specific framework for the application and critiquing of time-oriented clinical guidelines. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 29–51 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Milner, R.: A Calculus of Communicating Systems. Springer, Heidelberg (1980)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  21. ten Teije, A., Marcos, M., Balser, M., van Croonenborg, J., Duelli, C., van Harmelem, F., Lucas, P., Miksch, S., Reif, W., Rosenbrand, K., Seyfang, A., Coltel, J., Jovell, A.: Supporting the development of medical protocols through formal methods. In: Proc. of the Symposium on Computerized Guidelines and Protocols (CGP 2004), IOS Press, Amsterdam (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Larsen, K.G., Peterson, P., Yi, W.: UPPAL in a nuttshell. Journal of Software Tools for Technology Transfer 1(1-2), 134–152 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Bäumler, S., Balser, M., Dunets, A., Reif, W., Schmitt, J. (2006). Verification of Medical Guidelines by Model Checking – A Case Study. In: Valmari, A. (eds) Model Checking Software. SPIN 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3925. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11691617_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11691617_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-33102-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-33103-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics