IS661 Medical Informatics

Prof. Ahmed Sharaf

Report 1: Medical Terms Definitions Presented by: Ahmed Samy

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Definitions of Medical Informatics Medical informatics (also called health information systems, health care informatics) is a discipline at the intersection of information science, computer science, social science, behavioral science and health care. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods optimizing the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. The application of IT to improve management of patient data, population data and other information relevant to patient care and community health, teaching, biomedical research, and advancing medical knowledge. The cognitive processes of medical decision-making and processing of medical information, including the technology and communication tasks of medical practice, education and research. The field of information science concerned with the analysis and dissemination of medical data through the application of computers to various aspects of health care and medicine. Medical Informatics is the use of computers and information technology in support of physical therapy care, teaching, biomedical research. See Artificial intelligence, Computers, Expert system, Electronic journal, Electronic publishing, MEDLINE, Online database. Offered here are several definitions of medical informatics. First, my own: "Medical Informatics is the science and art of modeling and recording real-world clinical concepts and events into computable data used to derive actionable information, based on expertise in medicine, information science, information technology, and the scholarly study of issues that impact upon the productive use of information systems by clinical personnel." [S. Silverstein]. Another definition from a pioneer in the field at the University of Utah describes medical informatics as "The study, invention and implementation of structures and algorithms to improve communication, understanding and management of medical information." [Homer Warner]. Another definition from Stanford: "Medical information science is the science of using system-analytic tools . . . to develop procedures (algorithms) for management, process control, decision making and scientific analysis of medical knowledge." [Ted Shortliffe]: The science of biomedical computing. Med Inform 1984;9:185-93. A more in-depth definition from Columbia addresses the critical non-technologic, social science and self-evaluation aspects of medical informatics: "Medical Informatics studies the organization of medical information, the effective management of information using computer technology, and the impact of such technology on medical research, education, and patient care. The field explores techniques for assessing current

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information practices, determining the information needs of health care providers and patients, developing interventions using computer technology, and evaluating the impact of those interventions. This research seeks to optimize the use of information in order to improve the quality of health care, reduce cost, provide better education for providers and patients, and to conduct medical research more effectively." [Stephen B. Johnson], Columbia University. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has adopted as the theme of its 1999 annual conference four concepts or cornerstones for a new information management environment for healthcare. They point out that many of the "megachanges" in healthcare that will occur in the next decade will concentrate on the manner and extent to which information is gathered, disseminated, managed, and used throughout the health care system. The preeminent role of information will dramatically affect the delivery and administration of health care and will have a profound influence on the content and techniques for training, continuing education, and research designed to support and improve the health care system. The development of a new robust information management paradigm will be required, and the four major cornerstones form the core of this new paradigm. One of the most comprehensive definitions of medical informatics available comes from the "Handbook of Medical Informatics" [Editors: J.H. van Bemmel, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and M.A. Musen, Stanford Univerity, Stanford, CA]: "Medical informatics is located at the intersection of information technology and the different disciplines of medicine and health care ... We shall also use the term health informatics without entering into a fundamental discussion of the possible differences between medical informatics and health informatics.

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Definition of Bioinformatics The collection, classification, storage, and analysis of biochemical and biological information using computers especially as applied to molecular genetics and genomics. Science that links biological data with techniques for information storage, distribution, and analysis to support multiple areas of research. The data of bioinformatics include DNA sequences of genes or full genomes; amino acid sequences of proteins; and three-dimensional structures of proteins, nucleic acids, and protein–nucleic acid complexes. Database projects curate and annotate the data and then distribute it via the World Wide Web. Mining these data leads to scientific discoveries, enables the development of efficient algorithms for measuring sequence similarity in DNA from different sources, and facilitates the prediction of interactions between proteins. Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combines computer science, statistics, mathematics, and engineering to study and process biological data. Bioinformatics is both an umbrella term for the body of biological studies that use computer programming as part of their methodology, as well as a reference to specific analysis "pipelines" that are repeatedly used, particularly in the fields of genetics and genomics. Common uses of bioinformatics include the identification of candidate genes and nucleotides (SNPs). Often, such identification is made with the aim of better understanding the genetic basis of disease, unique adaptations, desirable properties (esp. in agricultural species), or differences between populations. In a less formal way, bioinformatics also tries to understand the organizational principles within nucleic acid and protein sequences. Fredj Tekaia at the Institut Pasteur offers this definition of bioinformatics: "The mathematical, statistical and computing methods that aim to solve biological problems using DNA and amino acid sequences and related information. " Richard Durbin", Head of Informatics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute , expressed an interesting opinion : "I do not think all biological computing is bioinformatics, e.g. mathematical modelling is not bioinformatics, even when connected with biology-related problems. In my opinion, bioinformatics has to do with management and the subsequent use of biological information, particular genetic information." Bioinformatics definition by bioinformatics definition Committee, National Institute of Mental Health released on July 17, 2000 (source: http://www.bisti.nih.gov/ ) The NIH Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative Consortium agreed on the following definitions of bioinformatics and computational biology recognizing that no definition could completely eliminate overlap with other activities or preclude variations in interpretation by different individuals and organizations.

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The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI 2001) defines bioinformatics as "Bioinformatics is the field of science in which biology, computer science, and information technology merge into a single discipline.There are three important sub-disciplines within bioinformatics: the development of new algorithms and statistics with which to assess relationships among members of large data sets; the analysis and interpretation of various types of data including nucleotide and amino acid sequences, protein domains, and protein structures; and the development and implementation of tools that enable efficient access and management of different types of information." (2) Bioinformatics- Definition (As submitted to the Oxford English Dictionary), (Molecular) bio informatics: bioinformatics is conceptualizing biology in terms of molecules (in the sense of Physical chemistry) and applying informatics techniques(derived from disciplines such as applied math, computer science and statistics) to understand androgenize the information associated with these molecules, on a large scale. In short, bioinformatics is a management information system for molecular biology and has many practical applications. "Biologists using computers, or the other way around. Bioinformatics is more of a tool than a discipline.(source: An Understandable Definition of Bioinformatics , The O'Reilly Bioinformatics Technology Conference, 2003) (4) The application of computer technology to the management of biological information. Specifically, it is the science of developing computer databases and algorithms to facilitate and expedite biological research.(source: Webopedia) Bioinformatics: a combination of Computer Science, Information Technology and Genetics to determine and analyze genetic information. (Definition from BitsJournal.com) Bioinformatics is the application of computer technology to the management and analysis of biological data. The result is that computers are being used to gather, store, analyze and merge biological data. (EBI)

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Definitions of Computational Biology Computational Biology, sometimes referred to as bioinformatics, is the science of using biological data to develop algorithms and relations among various biological systems. Prior to the advent of computational biology, biologists were unable to have access to large amounts of data. The development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems. Computational biology involves the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems. The field is broadly defined and includes foundations in computer science, applied mathematics, animation, statistics, biochemistry, chemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, genetics, genomics, ecology, evolution, anatomy, neuroscience, and visualization. Computational biology is different from biological computation, which is a subfield of computer science and computer engineering using bioengineering and biology to build computers, but is similar to bioinformatics, which is an interdisciplinary science using computers to store and process biological data. The NIH Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative Consortium: "This consortium has agreed on the following definitions of bioinformatics and computational biology, recognizing that no definition could completely eliminate overlap with other activities or preclude variations in interpretation by different individuals and organizations. Definition: A field of biology concerned with the development of techniques for the collection and manipulation of biological data, and the use of such data to make biological discoveries or predictions. This field encompasses all computational methods and theories applicable to MOLECULAR BIOLOGY and areas of computer-based techniques for solving biological problems including manipulation of models and datasets. "Bioinformatics is the field of science in which biology, computer science, and information technology merge into a single discipline. There are three important sub-disciplines within bioinformatics: the development of new algorithms and statistics with which to assess relationships among members of large data sets; the analysis and interpretation of various types of data including nucleotide and amino acid sequences, protein domains, and protein structures; and the development and implementation of tools that enable efficient access and management of different types of information."

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Comparison & Conclusion: Bioinformatics: Research, development, or application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral or health data, including those to acquire, store, organize, archive, analyze, or visualize such data. Computational Biology: The development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems." "Computational biology is not a "field", but an "approach" involving the use of computers to study biological processes and hence it is an area as diverse as biology itself." Richard Durbin, Head of Informatics at the Welcome Trust Sanger Institute, Computational biology = the study of biology using computational techniques. The goal is to learn new biology, knowledge about living systems. It is about science. Bioinformatics = the creation of tools (algorithms, databases) that solve problems. The goal is to build useful tools that work on biological data. It is about engineering. Bioinformatics and computational biology are rooted in life sciences as well as computer and information sciences and technologies. Both of these interdisciplinary approaches draw from specific disciplines such as mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering, biology, and behavioral science. Bioinformatics and computational biology each maintain close interactions with life sciences to realize their full potential. Bioinformatics applies principles of information sciences and technologies to make the vast, diverse, and complex life sciences data more understandable and useful. Computational biology uses mathematical and computational approaches to address theoretical and experimental questions in biology. Although bioinformatics and computational biology are distinct, there is also significant overlap and activity at their interface.

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References:

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Kann, M. G. (2009). "Advances in translational bioinformatics: computational approaches for the hunting of disease genes". Briefings in Bioinformatics 11 (1): 96–110. doi:10.1093/bib/bbp048. PMC 2810112. PMID 20007728

November, Joseph (2012). Biomedical Computing: Digitizing Life in the United States. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 1421404680.

Pyle, Kathryn I.; Lobel, Robert W.; Beck, J. Robert (1988). "Citation Analysis of the Field of Medical Decision Making". Medical Decision Making 8 (3): 155–164. doi:10.1177/0272989X8800800302

Patton GA, Gardner RM (1999). "Medical informatics education: the University of Utah experience". Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 6 (6): 457–65. doi:10.1136/jamia.1999.0060457. PMC 61389. PMID 10579604

National Institute of Mental Health released on July 17, 2000 (source: http://www.bisti.nih.gov/ )