Anatomical reasoning in the informatics age: Principles, ontologies, and agendas

Reasoning about anatomy shares historical scientific roots with formal logic and artificial intelligence. With advances in computer-based intelligent programming, high-level biological structural knowledge may be exploited directly for biomedical research, clinical tasks, and educational applications. We consider the special nature of anatomical domain knowledge, emphasizing the complex concepts and semantics that must be represented in the development of ontologies, formally structured databases of biological information. We review the evolution of the fundamental scientific principles of logic and artificial intelligence needed for building machines that can make use of anatomical knowledge. We look at methods for compiling ontologies and compare the structural designs of the Foundational Model of Anatomy and Open GALEN ontologies. We further consider issues related to mapping developing anatomy resources with other biological ontologies in genomics, proteomics, and physiology. Although early results are promising, considerable resources and continuing effort must be committed to completing and extending anatomical ontologies for the ultimate success of computer-based anatomical reasoning. Anat Rec (Part B: New Anat) 289B:72-84, 2006. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.