A computer support system for neurological anatomical diagnosis

Objectives Accurate neurological diagnoses are often difficult to make due to the complexity of the neuroanatomy involved. This study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of a computer system with easily retrievable anatomical information as a support for arriving at more accurate anatomic diagnoses. Patients and methods Anatomical information from an initial physical examination was programmed into a computer with stored neuroanatomical charts of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The information generated a graphic display of possible lesions with suggestions for further examination. These suggestions were then followed and further data entered. This data entry generated a new graphic display with reduced lesion possibilities. Iterations were then followed to narrow the possibilities for diagnosis further, until a final anatomical diagnosis was reached. This method was applied to three hypothetical examples and a number of clinical cases. Here we report three clinical cases in which this method was particularly useful in making a diagnosis. Results Using computer iterations, the system was able to pinpoint one or more presumptive causative lesions in the CNS or PNS based on known neuronal pathways or nuclei. Conclusion The results indicate that suitably used, computer memory, by virtue of its large capacity, accuracy and fast recall, can supplement human memory in reaching accurate anatomical diagnoses of neurological lesions.