Aid to discovery in medicine using formal induction techniques.

This article presents a particular approach to the subfield of artificial intelligence referred to as "aid to scientific discovery." The progress made in formal induction techniques suggests that the acquisition and discovery of knowledge may be considered as a refinement cycle in which the computer can play a central role. Some of the perspectives and the main difficulties are illustrated with a study done on the discovery of the causes of scurvy, and some links are made to the concept of scientific dogmas.

[An expert system of aiding decision making in breast pathology connected to a clinical data base]. / Conception d'un système expert d'aide à la décision en pathologie mammaire connecté à une base de données cliniques.

The René Huguenin Cancer Center holds a medical file for each patient which is intended to store and process medical data. Since 1970, we introduced computerization: a development plan was elaborated and simultaneously a statistical software (Clotilde--GSI/CFRO) was selected. Thus, we now have access to a large database, structured according to medical rationale, and utilizable with methods of artificial intelligence towards three objectives: improved data acquisition, decision making and exploitation. The first application was to breast pathology, which represents one of the Center's primary activities. The structure of the data concerning patients is by all criteria part of the medical knowledge. This information needs to be presented as well as processed with a suitable language. To this end, we chose a language-oriented object, Mering II, usable with Apple and IBM 4 micro-computers. This project has already allowed to work out an operational model.