A MULTIMEDIA DATABASE SYSTEM FOR THERMAL ABLATION THERAPY OF BRAIN-TUMORS

A prototype multimedia medical database is described for supporting th ermal ablation therapy of brain tumors. Its design is motivated by the major need to manage and access multimedia information on the progres s and reaction of tumors to various therapy protocols. The database li nks images to patient data in a way that permits the user to view and query medical information using alphanumeric, temporal, and feature-ba sed predicates, Visualization programs permit the user to view or anno tate the query results in various ways. These results support the wide variety of data types and presentation methods required by neuroradio logists to manage thermal ablation therapy data. The database satisfac torily meets the requirements defined by thermal ablation therapy. A s imilar approach is being undertaken for supporting different therapies of other types of tumors, thus showing the generality of our approach . Copyright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Company.