Patient image retrieval: an object-oriented coupled knowledge-based/database approach

One of the challenging design problems in picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is to extend information retrieval technologies to handle multimedia information retrieval. This paper presents an object-oriented coupled knowledge-base/database design of an image retrieval expert system (IRES) that retrieves relevant previous patient images to aid the diagnosing of new patient images using PACS technology. A synthesized object-oriented entity-relationship (SOOER) methodology has been developed to derive the design of IRES. This methodology has several features unique to the family of object-oriented knowledge-base design methods and is applicable to general expert system and other multimedia information systems applications