A MULTIMEDIA RELATIONAL DATABASE PROGRAM FOR PARASITE IDENTIFICATION

Parasites are responsible for human and animal diseases causing suffer ing and economic loss all over the world. Parasite identification is a n important step in treating and combating parasitic diseases. This ta sk can be assisted by computer programs. Until now computer based syst ems for parasite identification were fixed tree-decision programs whic h had no updating or expansion capacity and no ability for optimal sea rching algorithms. A new program was developed by using a multimedia r elational database management system with a graphical environment. Thi s program can incorporate expert knowledge in its relational structure and identify the parasites by using its structured query language. Al so, the program has the ability for partial identification by presenti ng the parasites that match the available incomplete information. In a ddition, the program can handle images and sound to present pictures a nd relevant information on the identified parasites. The advantages of the new program are its friendly graphical user interface and its unl imited capacity to incorporate new knowledge.