Tuberdiag: An expert system for pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis

In this paper, we present an overview of TUBERDIAG, a rule-based expert sys tem for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. This system was developed as a 2-year joint project by the Institute of Information Technology (National Center for Science and Technology) and the National Institute of Tuberculos is and Lung Diseases, Hanoi. After designing and building a suitable infere nce engine for this system, we have done a lot of work to create an effecti ve knowledge base; at present, this knowledge base contains more than 1,000 rules. The paper focuses on how the rule base is constructed, managed, and used. We also present here the first evaluation of TUBERDIAG by the doctor s at the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, who have bee n playing a very important role in the project - providing the system with their knowledge.