MultiAgent System for a Medical Application over Web Technology: A Working Experience

Abstract

At present, many medical applications are limited to storing basic information concerning patients, such as, their medical history, diagnostic issued by specialists, reviews, etc. But the medical work is not easy when considering complex cases involving different experts and require a high degree of coordination and cooperation. Traditionally communication between experts takes place across consultations involving large amounts of resources (money, time, etc.). MultiAgent Systems (MAS) are a branch of artificial intelligence distributed to adequately address problems of coordination and communication (among others) where several decisionmaking agents are involved. The objective of this work is the design and implementation of MAS that allows coordinate the workflow of a medical center. We have implemented a management tool for medical records and requests for medical services based on Web technology. The application made available to doctors all the information necessary for carrying out timely diagnosis, through electronic medical records. Regarding the tasks of coordination mentioned: assigning tasks to doctors, requests for reviews, delivering results, among others, using technologies such as text messaging, e-mail messages and on-line. To design agents and their roles, tasks and plans using the "Software Agent Architecture Pattern" the which is based on a set of classes organized for the encoding software components with agents that are integrated into Web applications, in addition to use as MAS commonKADS Methodology development of MAS. Currently have an application robust and stable. It is worth mentioning that this approach used specifically in the medical field is extended to other areas that require coordination distributed.