1. Introduction Case-based Reasoning for Medical Knowledge-based Systems.pdf

Case-based Reasoning for Medical Knowledge-based Systems Rainer Schmidt, Lothar Gierl Institute for Medical Informatics and Biometry, University of Rostock Rembrandtstr. 16 / 17, D-18055 Rostock, Germany Abstract In many domains Case-based Reasoning (CBR) has become a successful technique for knowledge-based systems. In medical domains, attempts to apply the complete CBR cycle are rather exceptional. Some systems have recently been developed, which on the one hand use only parts of the CBR method, mainly the retrieval, and on the other hand enrich the method by a generalisation step to fill the knowledge gap between the specificity of single cases and general rules. So, in this paper we discuss the appropriateness of CBR for medical knowledge-based systems, point out problems, limitations and possibilities how they can partly be overcome. 1. Introduction Case-based Reasoning (CBR) has become a successful technique for knowledge-based systems in many domains, while in medical domains some more problems arise to use this method. We are going to discuss the appropriateness of CBR for medical knowledge-based systems, point out problems, limitations and possibilities how they can partly be overcome. Case-based Reasoning means to use previous experience in form of cases to understand and solve new problems. A case-based reasoner remembers former cases similar to the current problem and attempts to modify their solutions to fit for the current case (Fig.1. shows the Case-based Reasoning cycle developed by Aamodt [1]). The underlying idea is the assumption that s