Localized Knowledge based System for Human Disease Diagnosis

Knowledge based system can be designed to solve complex medical problems. It incorporates the expert’s knowledge that has been coded into facts, rules, heuristics and procedures. Incorporation of local languages with the knowledge based system allows end-users communicate with the system in a simpler and easier way. In this study a localized knowledge based system is developed for TB disease diagnosis using Ethiopian national language. To develop the localized knowledge based system, tacit knowledge is acquired from domain experts using interviewing techniques and explicit knowledge is captured from documented sources using relevant documents analysis method. Then the acquired knowledge is modeled using decision tree structure that represents concepts and procedures involved in diagnosis of disease. Production rules are used to represent domain knowledge. The localized knowledge based system is developed using SWI Prolog version 6.4.1 programming language. Prolog supports natural language processing feature to localize the system. As a result, the system is implemented using Amharic language (the national language of Ethiopia) user interface. With Localization, users at remote areas and users who are not good in foreign languages are benefited enormously. The system is tested and evaluated to ensure that whether the performance of the system is accurate and the system is usable by physicians and patients. The average performance of the localized knowledge based system has registered 81.5%.