[Application of neural networks in occupational medicine]

The medical literature offers today many contributions in which neural networks have been used. The introduction of these tools as diagnostic aid appears very interesting also into various sectors of research in the occupational field. The author proceeds to a schematic description of the functioning of a neural network, describing an applied example. It is therefore estimated the feasible advantages which result from the use in the research of neural networks. Finally a possible fields of use of the neural networks in occupational medicine is highlighted, from the detection of lung nodules in digital chest radiographs to the detection of peripheral vascular disease from upper limb pulse waveforms, from the low back disorders due to workplace design to the diagnosis of occupational asthma.