A Knowledge-Based System to Aid with the Clinical Interpretation of Complex Serum Protein Data
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Robert F. Ritchie
Abstract
In every area of science workers are finding increasing difficulty in managing the volume of available data. In medicine, the accelerating pace has the worrisome overtones of our failing to provide up-to-date care for our patients. In other information-intensive areas, we rely heavily on software that manages much of the complexity unseen. Patient care could benefit enormously from the incorporation of “knowledge-based” programs to aid with diagnosis and management of many disorders. This article describes such a system designed to organize complex data which can be viewed as a test cluster aimed at many disorders pertinent to serum proteins. This program performs complex tasks such as reference range adjustment, ICD-9 code assignment, and searching for diagnostic “signatures”, to generate clinically relevant text and simple graphics. The results have been remarkably accurate and produce repeatable results at the rate of ~10 cases per minute. The reluctance to embrace software assistance in laboratory medicine may have serious consequences in the short term and disastrous results within a decade. Expanding the limited algorithm described here to include more traditional chemistry testing could provide the very assistance that all in clinical care desire, a laboratory tool as powerful and adaptable as the traditional physical exam.
Copyright © 2001 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- The Present State of Protein Analysis and Interpretation
- In Memoriam Carl-Bertil Laurell
- From Paper Electrophoresis to Computer-supported Interpretation of Capillary Electrophoresis – Clinical Plasma Protein Analysis in Malmö, Sweden
- The Pavia Approach to Clinical Protein Analysis
- How the Foundation for Blood Research (FBR) Has Managed Serum Protein Testing for New England Clinicians
- Evidence-Based Laboratory Interpretation System Built on a Large Collection of Case Records with Well-Defined Diagnoses
- A Knowledge-Based System to Aid with the Clinical Interpretation of Complex Serum Protein Data
- Markers of the Acute Phase Response in Cardiovascular Disease: An Update
- Protein Aggregation
- Protein Standardization I: Protein Purification. Procedure for the Purification of Human Prealbumin, Orosomucoid and Transferrin as Primary Protein Preparations
- Protein Standardization II: Dry Mass Determination. Procedure for the Determination of the Dry Mass of a Pure Protein Preparation
- Protein Standardization III: Method Optimization. Basic Principles for Quantitative Determination of Human Serum Proteins on Automated Instruments Based on Turbidimetry or Nephelometry
- Protein Standardization IV: Value Transfer. Procedure for the Assignment of Serum Protein Values from a Reference Preparation to a Target Material
- Effect of Certified Reference Material 470 (CRM 470) on National Quality Assurance Programs for Serum Proteins in Europe
- Commutability of Serum Protein Values: Persisting Bias among Manufacturers Using Values Assigned from the Certified Reference Material 470 (CRM 470) in the United States
- The Existing Interim Consensus Reference Ranges and the Future Approach
- Using Multiples of the Median to Normalize Serum Protein Measurements
- Strategy for Determining Racial and Environmental Similarities and Differences for Plasma Proteins
- Standardization of Immunoassay for CRM-Related Proteins in Japan: From Evaluating CRM 470 to Setting Reference Intervals
- Soluble Transferrin Receptor (sTfR): Biological Variations and Reference Limits
- High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Reference Intervals in the Elderly
- High Sensitivity Immunoassays for C-Reactive Protein: Promises and Pitfalls
- Meetings and Awards
Articles in the same Issue
- The Present State of Protein Analysis and Interpretation
- In Memoriam Carl-Bertil Laurell
- From Paper Electrophoresis to Computer-supported Interpretation of Capillary Electrophoresis – Clinical Plasma Protein Analysis in Malmö, Sweden
- The Pavia Approach to Clinical Protein Analysis
- How the Foundation for Blood Research (FBR) Has Managed Serum Protein Testing for New England Clinicians
- Evidence-Based Laboratory Interpretation System Built on a Large Collection of Case Records with Well-Defined Diagnoses
- A Knowledge-Based System to Aid with the Clinical Interpretation of Complex Serum Protein Data
- Markers of the Acute Phase Response in Cardiovascular Disease: An Update
- Protein Aggregation
- Protein Standardization I: Protein Purification. Procedure for the Purification of Human Prealbumin, Orosomucoid and Transferrin as Primary Protein Preparations
- Protein Standardization II: Dry Mass Determination. Procedure for the Determination of the Dry Mass of a Pure Protein Preparation
- Protein Standardization III: Method Optimization. Basic Principles for Quantitative Determination of Human Serum Proteins on Automated Instruments Based on Turbidimetry or Nephelometry
- Protein Standardization IV: Value Transfer. Procedure for the Assignment of Serum Protein Values from a Reference Preparation to a Target Material
- Effect of Certified Reference Material 470 (CRM 470) on National Quality Assurance Programs for Serum Proteins in Europe
- Commutability of Serum Protein Values: Persisting Bias among Manufacturers Using Values Assigned from the Certified Reference Material 470 (CRM 470) in the United States
- The Existing Interim Consensus Reference Ranges and the Future Approach
- Using Multiples of the Median to Normalize Serum Protein Measurements
- Strategy for Determining Racial and Environmental Similarities and Differences for Plasma Proteins
- Standardization of Immunoassay for CRM-Related Proteins in Japan: From Evaluating CRM 470 to Setting Reference Intervals
- Soluble Transferrin Receptor (sTfR): Biological Variations and Reference Limits
- High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Reference Intervals in the Elderly
- High Sensitivity Immunoassays for C-Reactive Protein: Promises and Pitfalls
- Meetings and Awards
