The SNOMED DICOM microglossary: controlled terminology resource for data interchange in biomedical imaging

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Informatics
• Health Informatics
• Medical Standards Development

Background:

• Healthcare telecommunications systems require integrated clinical knowledge.
• Existing standards like SNOMED and DICOM are valuable but lack synergistic integration.
• Multi-specialty content development necessitates broad biomedical expert engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the SNOMED DICOM Microglossary (SDM) as an information resource.
• To facilitate the embedding of specialized clinical knowledge into healthcare telecommunications systems.
• To map multi-specialty imaging terminology from SNOMED to DICOM data elements.

Main Methods:

• Developed a resource combining a message/electronic-document standard (DICOM) and a terminology standard (SNOMED).
• Created the SNOMED DICOM Microglossary (SDM) as a message-terminology mapping resource.
• Engaged industry, academia, professional societies, and government in development.

Main Results:

• The SDM specifies mappings between SNOMED terminology and DICOM data elements.
• DICOM provides semantic constraints and a framework, complementing SNOMED.
• The synergistic combination allows reconfiguration of generic message templates for diverse applications.

Conclusions:

• The SDM enhances healthcare telecommunications by integrating clinical knowledge efficiently.
• This resource supports the development of computer-based patient records and clinical practice guidelines.
• Professional societies can contribute to and maintain terminology, ensuring relevance and accuracy.