Application of Computer in Medicine&EAV data

Content:

In the first week of class of Research Methods in BMI, I got the first touch in the Biomedical Informatics field. I learned from the first class that the core idea about the BMI is the application of computer and informatics technology in biology and medical practices, especially the help of computer in clinical application. Dr Kahol gave us the first introduction about the main aspects that computer can be used in medicine, which includes the application of computer in diagnostic support, information management, process manager, education aid, and clinical intervention. Previously, with my background in biomedical engineering, and the short working experience in hospital, I have a general idea about the computer in diagnostic and information management, such as the automatic interpreting of the ECG curve, and the management of the patient billing system and PAC system for medical imaging. But Dr Kahol's introduction extends my understanding of the connect between computer and medical practices, in which there should be more interesting questions and exciting promising future in BMI.

For the EAV database introduced by Dr Dinu, this is a totally new concept for me. I knew the conventional relational database before. But with the comparison of EAV database with the CR database, the EAV database absolutely have some advances in flexibility, and efficiency in dealing with sparse data. However, for query record in EAV database, it seems more complicate than converntional relational database. To use SQL  work on EAV database need writing more than on the CR database. Below is the link for explanation of EAV database system, and one example about how to use SQL to create EAV database system. Hope it can be helpful.

Introduction for EAV database:
http://ycmi.med.yale.edu/nadkarni/eav_CR_contents.htm 

Creation of EAV database:
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/davidm/articles/12117.aspx
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