Expert systems and multivariate analysis in clinical chemistry

The object of this thesis is to explore how expert systems may be helpful in information enhancement for clinical chemistry. Several prototypes have been built in order to investigate the advantages and disadvantages. A discussion of existing and new ideas with ample references has been added to create a birds eye view of the area, and to allow the interested reader a deeper dive into the subject. lt is hoped that this thesis will act as a catalyst in reverting the existing scepticism into enthousiasm. Chapter 2 is a description of LITHOS, an expert system for X-ray diffraction analysis of urinary calculi. A comparison of this system with CALCULI, a conventional computer program for the same purpose is given in chapter 3. Chapter 4 contains a discussion of acid-base nomenclature and a short description of CHEMPATII, an expert system for the diagnosis of acid-base and electrolyte disorders. In chapter 5, examples and a discussion are presented of multivariate analysis as a tool in clinical chemistry. Some explorations in developing an expert system for the laboratory diagnosis of anemia (HEMO) are discussed in chapter 6. Chapter 7 presents a general discussion of the application of expert systems in clinical chemistry, as well as the experiences with the various systems.