Knowledge grid support for treatment of traumatic brain injury victims

Abstract

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) typically result from accidents in which the head strikes an object. Among all traumatic causes of death, the TBI is the most serious one. Moreover, TBI can also significantly affect many cognitive, physical, and psychological skills of the cases that survive. It is clear from the data presented in many international studies, that improvement of outcomes is useful not only for the patients, but also for entire national economy. This paper introduces a new software infrastructure, called TBI Knowledge Grid that will provide health professionals involved in the treatment and management of TBI patients with Information Technology tools, which will enable them to discover and access relevant knowledge and information from different distributed and heterogeneous data sources. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.