The GRAIL concept modelling language for medical terminology

A. L. Rector, S. Bechhofer, C. A. Goble, I. Horrocks, W. A. Nowlan, W. D. Solomon

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The GALEN representation and integration language (GRAIL) has been developed to support effective clinical user interfaces and extensible re-usable models of medical terminology. It has been used successfully to develop the prototype GALEN common reference (CORE) model for medical terminology and for a series of projects in clinical user interfaces within the GALEN and PEN and PAD projects. GRAIL is a description logic or frame language with novel features to support part-whole and other transitive relations and to support the GALEN modelling style aimed at re-use and application independence. GRAIL began as an experimental language. However, it has clarified many requirements for an effective knowledge representation language for clinical concepts. It still has numerous limitations despite its practical successes. The GRAIL experience is expected to form the basis for future languages which meet the same requirements but have greater expressiveness and more soundly based semantics. This paper provides a description and motivation for the GRAIL language and gives examples of the modelling paradigm which it supports.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)139-171
    Number of pages32
    JournalArtificial Intelligence in Medicine
    Volume9
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Feb 1997

    Keywords

    • Concept models
    • Description logic
    • Knowledge representation
    • Medical records
    • Re-use
    • Terminology

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