Ontological Representation of Radiation Treatment Data

Abstract

Radiation treatment, or the use of powerful electromagnetic waves to treat malignant growths in the body, has become very common in the treatment of cancer patients. The dangers of radiation, however, can be catastrophic if not utilized with the utmost caution; thus, meticulous treatment plans are absolutely essential. Currently, the primary resources available to physicians for planning the specific doses of radiation to be prescribed are primarily found in published literature of previous studies. As merely textual resources, however, these publications do not lend themselves well to any sort of reasoning, computation, or specialization. Consequently, the knowledge contained within these papers is not being captured in the most usable format. To remedy this, a different approach to the extraction of this knowledge is necessary, coupled with a new model for representation of the knowledge in order to provide for data that is both more efficient and accessible.