Fusion of multimedia information in biomedicine

Abstract

Biomedicine is a very rich field of multimedia information. It is also a fruitful ground for information fusion and integration about scientific research data as well as clinical records of digital medical systems. In this paper, we present a global overview of these ideas, which have not been realized so far and could be interesting to the multimedia research community. We exemplify the complex information resources in terms of Gene Ontology (GO), Clinical Bioinformatics Ontology (CBO) and the Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA). GO is a biomedical scientific research system used to describe genes and gene products, but no cellular components. CBO is a clinical oriented ontology of information, which potentially include many multimedia images: X-Ray, ultrasound and magnetic resonance images. FMA is a foundational clinical source used to describe the anatomy of the human body as well as cellular components. While scientists in each sector may use these systems to help develop their own information, it is very difficult for a layman or broadspectrum researcher to integrate the two different languages into one interface. We will attempt to address these issues to describe how information fusion can be achieved. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.