Overview of ICD-11 architecture and structure

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Informatics
• Biomedical Ontologies

Background:

• The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) evolved into a global standard for disease classification.
• The World Health Organization sought to modernize ICD by incorporating advancements in computer science and knowledge representation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the innovative architecture developed for the International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision (ICD-11).

Main Methods:

• A fundamental architectural revision of ICD-11 was undertaken by clinical specialists and domain experts.
• The proposed architecture featured a three-layer system: a semantic network (Foundation), hierarchical codes (Linearization), and a formal ontology.
• Each semantic network entry included an associated information model (Content Model).

Main Results:

• The paper details the innovative, multi-layered architecture designed for ICD-11.
• This architecture includes a semantic network, linearization, and a formal ontology.

Conclusions:

• ICD-11 represents a significant transformation of medical classification, preserving historical aspects while enabling multiple linearizations.
• The new architecture, underpinned by a semantic network, facilitates modern data science and analysis of encoded medical content.