title: Method for automatic management of the semantic network ambiguity in the UMLS: possible application for information retrieval on the Web.
abstract: The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) is an extensive collection of terms and concepts. The UMLS includes biomedical terms from standard classifications. The semantic network (SN) links the concepts, sometimes ambiguously. In this paper we try, on one hand to describe the relationship between concepts more efficiently and on the other hand to find new relationships. Assuming that re-usability and automatic extraction of knowledge from existing thesaurus enables an improvement of the metatheasaurus, we cross the SN with linked concepts from the ADM (Assisted Medical Diagnosis). Results are presented and our discussion concerns firstly the use of the SN only; secondly the improvement that allows pre-selection of linked concepts, and thirdly the possibility to coincide with other developments that improve the metathesaurus.
authors.affiliation: Medical Informatics Laboratory, 2, rue du Pr. Léon Bernard 35000w Rennes, France. Vincent.mary@univ-rennes1.fr
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mary
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Le Duff
authors.forename: Fleur
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mougin
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Le Beux
mesh_terms: D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D020407:Internet; D012660:Semantics; D017432:Unified Medical Language System