IBM avatars to visualize and interact with medical records in 3D

IBM announced on 26 September 2007 the creation of the Anatomic and Symbolic Mapper Engine (ASME), a prototype software that allows medical doctors to visualize medical records as a 3D avatar and to interact with it. The system enables intuitive anatomical queries for a specific patient, with e.g. zooming used to narrow the query space. Possible results include related text records, results of laboratory analyses or medical images such as radiographs. One IBM Researcher compared the service to Google Earth, which is currently dedicated to geographical and astronomical data.

Using advanced machine learning and state-of-the-art 3-D modeling techniques, the IBM researchers are working to overcome key technical challenges including integrating heterogeneous data sources and complex text-based information—so-called unstructured data—and linking that data to the anatomical model in a meaningful and easy-to-navigate way. ASME also uses SNOMED, the systemized nomenclature of medicine that encompasses approximately 300,000 medical terms, to create a bridge between graphical concepts and text documents...
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