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Clinical Ontologies

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

  • 22 Accesses

Synonyms

Clinical classifications; Clinical nomenclatures; Clinical terminologies

Definition

An ontology is a formal representation of a set of heterogeneous concepts. However, in the life sciences, the term clinical ontology has also been more broadly defined as also comprising all forms of classified terminologies, including classifications and nomenclatures. Clinical ontologies provide not only a controlled vocabulary but also relationships among concepts allowing computer reasoning such that different parties, like physicians and insurers, can efficiently answer complex queries.

Historical Background

As the life sciences integrates increasingly sophisticated systems of patient management, different means of data representation have had to keep pace to support user systems. Simultaneously, the explosion of genetic information from breakthroughs from the Human Genome Project and gene chip technology have further expedited the need for robust, scalable platforms for handling...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Yves A. Lussier & James L. Chen

Authors
  1. Yves A. Lussier
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  2. James L. Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yves A. Lussier .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

Section Editor information

  1. Director, Clinical Programs, CIGNA Healthcare, Bloomfield, Connecticut, USA

    Vipul Kashyap

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Lussier, Y.A., Chen, J.L. (2018). Clinical Ontologies. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8265-9_62

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