A knowledge-based system to find over-the-counter medicines for self-medication.

This study developed a medicine query system based on Semantic Web and open data especially for self-medication users to search over-the-counter (OTC) medicines. Most existing medicine query systems are based on keyword searches. If users are uncertain about the exact search words, these query systems do not offer effective help. Furthermore, most systems provide inadequate explanations of symptoms and ailments for users to use with confidence. To remedy these issues, this study builds a knowledge base to enable inference-based searches and data mashup for integrating information from across the Web. Three components were identified: (1) building an ontology model to describe the relationships between ailments and symptoms; (2) upgrading medicinal product datasets to link them with the ontology model on a semantic level; and (3) developing a data mashup to integrate web resources to help users to find references. Furthermore, the aim was to develop a web-based application that utilizes inference mechanisms to provide users with tools for interactive manipulation. A pilot experiment for skin ailments was implemented to learn the problem-solving skills of the system. Finally, two experts utilized a content validity index to rate a four-dimension 15-item scale. The evaluation results show that experts found the proposed system excellent for content validity.

A chronic disease dietary consultation system using OWL-based ontologies and semantic rules.

Chronic diseases patients often require constant dietary control that involves complicated interaction among factors such as the illness stage, the patient's physical condition, the patient's activity level, the amount of food intake, and key nutrient restrictions. This study aims to integrate multiple knowledge sources for problem solving modeling and knowledge-based system (KBS) development. A chronic kidney disease dietary consultation system is constructed by using Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) to demonstrate how a KBS approach can achieve sound problem solving modeling and effective knowledge inference. For system evaluation, information from 84 case patients is used to evaluate the performance of the system in recommending appropriate food serving amounts from different food groups for balanced key nutrient ingestion. The results show that, excluding interference factors, the OWL-based KBS can achieve accurate problem solving reasoning while maintaining knowledge base shareability and extensibility.