Toward a unified representation of findings in clinical radiology

The representations of findings in clinical radiology are heterogeneous. Motivations for developing a unified representation include the semantic integration of medical reports based on DICOM-SR(Digital Image Communication in Medicine Structured Reporting), bibliographic databases in the context of evidence-based medicine, and teaching resources. In this work, we propose a unified representation integrating the representations of findings in the UMLS, the GAMUTS in Radiology and the DICOM-SR. We analyse the UMLS and the DCMR (DICOM Content Mapping Resource) of DICOM SR to figure out their own representation of findings. Then we set up a syntax between the UMLS concepts using DICOM-SR relations in order to rewrite the GAMUTS sentences. The translation of the whole GAMUTS using the UMLS concepts and the DICOM SR syntax could be a method to create or supplement the DCMR TIDs (Template ID : Identifier of a Template) and CIDs (Context ID : Identifier of a Context Group) in the field of description of findings in medical imaging. This method could also enable to give an ontologic dimension to the DICOM SR representation system of information. The meaning of the CIDs would then be enhanced far beyond the simple use of the SNOMED vocabulary.