Implementation of an Ontology-Based Decision Support System for Dietary Recommendations for Diabetes Mellitus

Along with the massive infl uence of computing technologies in medical research and practice, the wide generation of patient, clinical and lab test data makes the assistance of intelligent information systems a very important factor for correct therapy, surveillance and advising of the patients. In this context decision support systems play an increasingly important role in medical practice. The implementation of a decision support system (DSS) in diabetes treatment and in particular in organizing an improved regime of food balance and patient diets is the target area of the presented study. Based on the recently created Diabetes Mellitus Treatment Ontology (DMTO), our DSS for dietary recommendations generates broader and more precise advices to patients with a known clinical history and lab test profi les. These recommendations are rule-based decisions derived using the DMTO subontologies for patient’s lifestyle improvement and the data from the patient records.