RESUMEN
Formal methods play an important role in the development of software and hardware systems. In recent years, there has been a growing interest to apply these methods in the area of medical guidelines and protocols. This paper summarises these efforts, compares the approaches and discusses the role of formal methods in this area.
Asunto(s)
Protocolos Clínicos/normas , Estudios de Evaluación como Asunto , Guías de Práctica Clínica como Asunto/normas , Modelos TeóricosRESUMEN
We propose to use computerised medical guidelines as models for verification tools, so they can be validated with medical properties. To test the applicability we provide an implementation of the semantics of the medical planning language Asbru and also provide a formalised guideline for the treatment of breast cancer. With this case study we conduct experiments testing different proof techniques to cope with several challenges which guidelines provide.
Asunto(s)
Guías de Práctica Clínica como Asunto , Lenguajes de Programación , Neoplasias de la Mama/terapia , Femenino , HumanosRESUMEN
Medical guidelines and protocols describe the optimal care for a specific group of patients and therefore, when properly applied, improve the quality of patient care. During the last decade, a large number of medical guidelines and protocols have been published. However, the work done on developing and disseminating them far outweighs the efforts on guaranteeing their quality. Indeed, anomalies like ambiguity and incompleteness are frequent in medical guidelines and protocols. An approach grounded on a formal representation, can answer these needs, as we have demonstrated in the Protocure project'. The Protocure II project will aim at integrating formal methods in the life cycle of guidelines.