Background and Significance
Throughout the decades, terminologies have played an important role in informatics.
They serve many purposes: (1) knowledge management, (2) data integration, and (3)
decision support, just to name a few.[1] Three of the most commonly used terminologies are Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine
Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT), Logical Observations Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC),
and RxNorm.[2] There has been increasing interest in combining these terminologies, as they would
provide enhanced expressivity and interoperability.[1] Solor is one such example.
Solor
According to Resnick et al, Solor is an integrated terminology system created in collaboration
with the U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA), which combines SNOMED CT (representing diseases,
findings, and procedures), LOINC (representing laboratory test results), and RxNorm
(representing medications).[1] Thus, Solor builds upon SNOMED CT, RxNorm, and LOINC by integrating their content
and semantics.[1]
[3]
[4] In this paper, we discuss the semantic relations and the further extension of this
portion of Solor.
Purpose of Semantic Relations
Semantic relations serve at least three purposes: (1) making semantics, or meaning,
explicit; (2) enabling automatic classification; and (3) allowing postcoordination.[5]
[6] First, semantic relations provide a formal way to express the meaning of concepts.[5]
[6] This is especially important in terminologies such as SNOMED CT, as meaning is typically
not expressed through free-text definitions.[5] In fact, as of 2018, there were only 4,000 definitions for 341,000 active concepts.[2]
Second, based on definitions of concepts, a reasoning or inference engine can perform
automated classification.[5]
[6] For example, the reasoning engine can infer that a “fracture of femur” is also a
type of “fracture of bone,” which is, in turn, a type of “disease.”
Third, postcoordination provides for the construction of detailed concepts without
the need to have every concept represented in a terminology.[5]
[6] Postcoordination is valuable for clinical users who want to provide detailed information
about a patient.[5]
[6] It is also useful for modelers who maintain or develop extensions for terminologies
such as SNOMED CT.[5]
[6]
SNOMED CT Relations
SNOMED CT is built on a description logic model.[4]
[7]
[8] There are three components to this model: Concepts, Descriptions, and Relations.[7] Every concept is defined as a medically related idea, such as heart attack, which
is referenced by a numeric identifier, “22298006.”[1]
[7] The description, or second component, is the textual component describing the concept.[7] In other words, it is the human-readable form of the concept.[7] Two descriptions are given to each identifier: the fully specified name (FSN), and
the synonym.[7] The FSN represents a unique description of a concept's meaning.[7] For “22298006” the FSN is “myocardial infarction (disorder).” The synonym represents
a term or terms that can be used to display or choose a concept.[7] “Heart attack” and “MI” are synonyms for “myocardial infarction (disorder).” The
third component is the relations.[7] SNOMED CT has two main relations: “is_a,” and attributes.[3]
[9]
The “is_a” relations organize the SNOMED CT concepts into 19 hierarchies, such as
“body structure,” “procedure,” and “clinical finding.”[1]
[9] Almost all of the concepts have at least one “is_a” relationship, except for the
top-level concept, which is the root concept and the most general.[9] Thus, due to the “is_a” relationships, one can traverse the hierarchies from the
general concepts to more specific concepts at the bottom of the hierarchies.
There is a second type of relation, the attribute.[3]
[4] In SNOMED CT, the attribute (relation type) allows for the representation of a characteristic
of a concept.[9] This provides more meaning to the concept.[10]
SNOMED CT utilizes more than 50 attributes.[9] Some examples of attributes include: (1) associated morphology; (2) due to; and
(3) causative agent.[11] The domain or source is the hierarchy to which a specific attribute can be applied,
while the range or target is the set of concepts that are allowed as the value of
the specific attribute.[9] For example, the domain for the “associated morphology” attribute is the “clinical
finding” hierarchy.[3]
[9] The range for this same attribute is the concept “morphologically abnormal structure”
and its subtypes or descendants.[9] Attributes are used with the following nine hierarchies: (1) clinical finding; (2)
procedure; (3) evaluation procedure; (4) specimen; (5) body structure; (6) pharmaceutical/biologic
product; (7) situation with explicit context; (8) event; and (9) physical objects.[9]
Solor Semantic Relations
Similar to SNOMED CT, Solor is built on a description logic model.[1] It utilizes both the “is_a” and the attribute relations.[3]
[4] Most of the concepts are shared by Solor and SNOMED CT and are arranged into hierarchies
using the “is_a” relation.[1]
[3] The “is_a” relation also provides a mechanism to query and retrieve subtype concepts.[4]
Currently, all of the SNOMED CT attributes have been incorporated into Solor. In 2019,
one new attribute, “using device,” was added.[4] To improve the characterization and meaning of the concepts, approximately 40 additional
attributes or semantic relations have been proposed and implemented. Before moving
on to discuss new semantic relations, we will briefly discuss the increased flexibility
that Solor can provide.
Solor can increase flexibility due to three of its characteristics. First, as mentioned
above, it has a hierarchical structure.[1] This allows for detailed clinical data recording and retrieval. Second, through
the use of its logic model, Solor provides different ways to convey the same or similar
concepts. Finally, since Solor integrates SNOMED CT, LOINC, and RxNorm, it can improve
the flow of clinical data among clinical documentation, decision support applications,
and order entry at the point of care.[1]
New Solor Semantic Relations
The list of the new semantic relations came from the VA's work on semantic relations
and the last author's work on the semantic relations from the structured product labels
for drugs. One of the proposed semantic relations, “prevents,” is currently present
as an unapproved attribute in SNOMED CT.[11] This means that it is not used in the SNOMED CT logic model. These semantic relations
are being released as a Release Format 2 extension set to Solor.
Semantic relations (attributes) are normally implemented by adding them into the terminology.[3]
[4] This can be accomplished through addition of semantic relations to the logic model
or by terminology extensions.[3] Instead of mapping an existing local code or term to a standard code, concepts would
be directly represented using standard codes or logical expressions that conform to
a description logic model.[3] On the other hand, terminology extensions can be employed. In this case, computable
logical expressions based on SNOMED CT, LOINC, or RxNorm are created and added to
extensions of these terminologies, which are then managed by an organization.[3] However, we chose to implement them via rules in the High Definition-Natural Language
Processing (HD-NLP) program.[1]
[12] We employed the following steps for implementation.
The HD-NLP program uses a full semantic parse in memory followed by an encoder to
link text to any set of ontologies preferred by the user for representing the knowledge
in the free text.[1] Next, each entity is tagged as an affirmed, negative, or uncertain assertion.[1] We then automatically generate compositional expressions where applicable in the
source text using the semantic relations available in the chosen ontologies.[1] We add the metadata from the record and link it to the information stored from computing
over the input string.[1] HD-NLP uses several sources of synonymy, kept in separate synonym sets, which are
available for interrogation to understand why certain results were obtained.[1] We made use of the HD-NLP to rapidly assign terminology concepts to text in patient
records or Knowledge Artifact (KNART) text.[1]
According to HL7, KNARTS are “structured, computable, and shareable representations
of clinical knowledge.”[13] “Patients with diabetes should have regular comprehensive foot examination to identify
risk factors predictive of ulcers and amputations” is an example of a clinical knowledge
statement.[13] A KNART would then be used to represent this clinical knowledge statement and to
integrate it into health care delivery systems, such as electronic health record systems,
and clinical decision support (CDS).[13]
The VA KNARTS are comprised of narrative clinical statements designed for CDS.[1] Each of these clinical statements were previously assigned Solor concepts by experienced
human modelers.[1]
Objectives
Terminologies, such as SNOMED CT and Solor, assist with knowledge representation and
management, data integration, and triggering CDS rules. Semantic relations provide
explicit meaning in compositional expressions used for many of the above-mentioned
activities. Thus, the aims of this research are to: (1) identify semantic relations
that are not fully present in SNOMED CT and Solor and (2) use these identified semantic
relations with terms that are currently present in SNOMED CT and Solor to form triples.
Methods
Work on the KNARTS project at the VA was the impetus for the research on the new semantic
relations. Thus, we identified relations that were not fully present in either terminology
and were important for VA KNARTS. With the HD-NLP, we identified the semantic relations
used in CDS and drug datasets. Once added to SNOMED CT and Solor, these semantic relations
will be used to improve CDS rules.
First, each semantic relation was read one at a time to determine its meaning. Next,
concepts were generated for the semantic relation. For example, the concepts “diabetes,”
“heart disease,” and “obesity” were considered for the semantic relation “has_risk_factor.”
These were formed into the triples (subject, verb, object): (1) heart disease “has_risk_factor”
diabetes and (2) diabetes “has_risk_factor” obesity.
In the next step, the classifications for the subject and object of the semantic relation
were determined, only some of which appear in the SNOMED CT hierarchies. This is because
Solor incorporates three different terminologies.
For diabetes “has_risk_factor” obesity, the classification for diabetes is “disease;”
the classification for obesity is “finding.” Care was taken to be sure to use each
type of triple only once. In the case of “has_risk_factor,” disease “has_risk_factor”
finding was employed only once.
The semantic relations with their concepts were given to physicians with instructions
to write one sentence for each triple. They wrote sentences similar to those in their
chart notes. For example: “Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes.” This represents
the triple: diabetes “has_risk_factor” obesity.
In the final step, the semantic relations, concepts, classifications, and sentences
were used to write rules for the HD-NLP program. These rules were written in the JSON
programming language. The rules followed the general format, given a relation, the
classifications of terms are the operand (come before the relation) and the terms
become the specification (come after).
Results
There is a total of 38 semantic relations with 68 discovered sets of terms and classifications.
Of these: 23 relations have only 1 set; 6 relations have 2 sets; 5 relations have
3 sets; 2 relations have 4 sets; and 2 relations (“has_indication” and “prevents”)
have 5 sets.
Of the 68 discovered subject/verb/object triples, there are 38 unique subject/object
combinations ([Table 1]). The top 3 are: medication/finding (10 out of 68), medication/disease (6 out of
68), and medical procedure/disease (4 out of 68). There are 13 unique subjects. The
top 3 are: medication (33 out of 68), medical procedure (8 out of 68), and disease
(6 out of 68). There are 16 unique objects. The top 3 are: finding (21 out of 68),
disease (16 out of 68), and medication (7 out of 68).
Table 1
Preexisting semantic relations and discovered relational classifications and terms
Semantic relation
|
Relation with classifications
|
Example of terms with relation
|
Delays
|
Medication
delays
finding
|
Opioids
delays
gastric emptying
|
Exacerbates
|
Substance
exacerbates
finding
|
Pollen
exacerbates
allergic reaction
|
has_adverse_reaction
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction
finding
|
Morphine
has_adverse_reaction
respiratory depression
|
has_adverse_reaction_action
|
Behavior
has_adverse_reaction_action
medication
|
Opioid overdose
has_adverse_reaction_action
Narcan
|
has_adverse_reaction_in_combination_with
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction_in_combination_with
medication
|
Benzodiazepines
has_adverse_reaction_in_combination_with
opioids
|
has_adverse_reaction_in_population
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction_in_population
age
|
First-generation antihistamines
has_adverse_reaction_in_population
elderly
|
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_age
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_age
elderly
|
Antipsychotics
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_age
older
|
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_gender
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_gender
female
|
Rosiglitazone
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_gender
female
|
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_preexisting_condition
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_preexisting_condition
disease
|
Nonselective beta blockers
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_preexisting_condition
reactive airway disease
|
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_race_ethnicity
|
Asian
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_race_ethnicity
finding
|
Asian race
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_by_race_ethnicity
anticoagulant-related ADEs
|
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_pregnancy
|
Behavior
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_pregnancy
disease
|
Drinking alcohol
has_adverse_reaction_in_population_pregnancy
fetal alcohol syndrome
|
has_adverse_reaction_severity
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction_severity
behavior
|
Benzodiazepines
has_adverse_reaction_severity
falls
|
|
Medication
has_adverse_reaction_severity
finding
|
Benzodiazepines
has_adverse_reaction_severity
cognitive impairment
|
has_associated_lab_test_result
|
Disease
has_associated_lab_test_result
lab result
|
Diabetes mellitus
has_associated_lab_test_result
hyperglycemia
|
|
Finding
has_associated_lab_test_result
lab result
|
Anemia
has_associated_lab_test_result
low hemoglobin
|
|
Infection
has_associated_lab_test_result
lab result
|
Bacterial infection
has_associated_lab_test_result
leukocytosis
|
has_black_box_warning
|
Medication
has_black_box_warning
lab result
|
Clozapine
has_black_box_warning
agranulocytosis
|
has_black_box_warning_severity
|
Medication
has_black_box_warning_severity
behavior
|
Opioids
has_black_box_warning_severity
abuse
|
|
Medication
has_black_box_warning_severity
finding
|
Opioids
has_black_box_warning_severity
addiction
|
has_contraindication
|
Finding
has_contraindication
medication
|
G6PD deficiency
has_contraindication
sulfa drugs
|
has_contraindication_in_combination_with
|
Medication
has_contraindication_in_combination_with
medication
|
Demerol
has_contraindication_in_combination_with
MAO inhibitors
|
has_contraindication_in_population
|
Medical procedure
has_contraindication_in_population
coagulopathy
|
Neurosurgery
has_contraindication_in_population
patients with coagulopathy
|
|
Medical procedure
has_contraindication_in_population
Rh-negative
|
Transfusion Rh-positive
has_contraindication_in_population
patients with Rh-negative blood
|
|
Medication
has_contraindication_in_population
anticoagulation
|
NSAIDs
has_contraindication_in_population
patients on anticoagulation therapy
|
has_contraindication_in_population_by_age
|
Medication
has_contraindication_in_population_by_age
neonate
|
Chloramphenicol
has_contraindication_in_population_by_age
0–28 d
|
has_contraindication_in_population_by_gender
|
Medication
has_contraindication_in_population_by_gender
male
|
Oxytocin
has_contraindication_in_population_by_gender
men
|
has_contraindication_in_population_by_preexisting_condition
|
Radiological test
has_contraindication_in_population_by_preexisting_condition
pacemakers
|
MRI
has_contraindication_in_population_by_preexisting_condition
patients with pacemakers
|
has_contraindication_in_population_pregnancy
|
Medication
has_contraindication_in_population_pregnancy
disease
|
Thalidomide
has_contraindication_in_population_pregnancy
birth defects
|
has_indication
|
Lab result
has_indication
disease
|
High HgA1C
has_indication
type 2 diabetes mellitus
|
|
Medical procedure
has_indication
disease
|
Cholecystectomy
has_indication
cholecystitis
|
|
Medical procedure
has_indication
finding
|
Thoracentesis
has_indication
pleural effusion
|
|
Medication
has_indication
disease
|
Metformin
has_indication
type 2 diabetes mellitus
|
|
Medication
has_indication
infection
|
Antibiotics
has_indication
bacterial infection
|
has_indication_for_prevention
|
Medical procedure
has_indication_for_prevention
disease
|
Prophylactic mastectomy
has_indication_for_prevention
breast cancer
|
|
Medication
has_indication_for_prevention
finding
|
Imdur
has_indication_for_prevention
angina
|
has_indication_for_prevention_primary
|
Medical procedure
has_indication_for_prevention_primary
disease
|
Colonoscopy
has_indication_for_prevention_primary
colon cancer
|
|
Nutrition
has_indication_for_prevention_primary
disease
|
Calcium and vitamin D
has_indication_for_prevention_primary
osteoporosis
|
has_indication_for_prevention_ secondary
|
Medical device
has_indication_for_prevention_ secondary
finding
|
AICD
has_indication_for_prevention_ secondary
cardiac death
|
|
Medical procedure
has_indication_for_prevention_ secondary
finding
|
Cardiac stent placement
has_indication_for_prevention_ secondary
heart attack
|
|
Medication
has_indication_for_prevention_ secondary
finding
|
Corticosteroids
has_indication_for_prevention_ secondary
asthma attack
|
has_indication_for_treatment
|
Medical device
has_indication_for_treatment
finding
|
CPAP
has_indication_for_treatment
sleep apnea
|
|
Medical procedure
has_indication_for_treatment
disease
|
Surgery
has_indication_for_treatment
lumbar stenosis
|
|
Medication
has_indication_for_treatment
disease
|
Insulin
has_indication_for_treatment
type 1 diabetes mellitus
|
has_indication_for_treatment_adjuvant
|
Medication
has_indication_for_treatment_adjuvant
disease
|
Chemotherapy
has_indication_for_treatment_adjuvant
cancer
|
|
Medication
has_indication_for_treatment_adjuvant
finding
|
Antidepressants
has_indication_for_treatment_adjuvant
chronic pain
|
has_risk_factor
|
Disease
has_risk_factor
behavior
|
Lung cancer
has_risk_factor
smoking
|
|
Disease
has_risk_factor
disease
|
Heart disease
has_risk_factor
diabetes
|
|
Disease
has_risk_factor
finding
|
Diabetes
has_risk_factor
obesity
|
has_treatment
|
Disease
has_treatment
behavior
|
Depression
has_treatment
psychotherapy
|
|
Disease
has_treatment
medication
|
Diabetes
has_treatment
metformin
|
|
Finding
has_treatment
medication
|
Headache
has_treatment
acetaminophen
|
|
Infection
has_treatment
medication
|
Streptococcus pneumoniae
has_treatment
antibiotic
|
Increases
|
Bacteria
increases
finding
|
Streptococcus pneumoniae
increases
body temperature
|
|
Behavior
increases
finding
|
Alcohol use
increases
liver damage
|
|
Finding
increases
lab result
|
Uncontrolled diabetes
increases
A1C
|
|
Medication
increases
finding
|
Adrenaline
increases
heart rate
|
is_anesthetic_for
|
Medication
is_anesthetic_for
finding
|
Lidocaine
is_anesthetic_for
pain
|
Prevents
|
Behavior
prevents
disease
|
Exercise
prevents
osteoporosis
|
|
Behavior
prevents
finding
|
Exercise
prevents
obesity
|
|
Medication
prevents
disease
|
MMR vaccine
prevents
measles mumps and rubella
|
|
Medication
prevents
finding
|
Motrin
prevents
dysmenorrhea
|
|
Nutrition
prevents
disease
|
Dietary calcium
prevents
osteoporosis
|
Prolongs
|
Finding
prolongs
procedure
|
Vitamin K deficiency
prolongs
prothrombin time
|
|
Medication
prolongs
procedure
|
Coumadin/warfarin
prolongs
prothrombin time
|
requires_regular_monitoring
|
Medication
requires_regular_monitoring
procedure
|
Coumadin
requires_regular_monitoring
PT/INR
|
requires_regular_monitoring_action
|
Medication
requires_regular_monitoring_action
procedure
|
Ketamine infusion
requires_regular_monitoring_action
LFTs
|
requires_regular_monitoring_threshold
|
Medication
requires_regular_monitoring_threshold
lab result
|
Vancomycin
requires_regular_monitoring_threshold
10–15 µg/mL
|
Suppresses
|
Medication
suppresses
finding
|
Codeine
suppresses
cough
|
Abbreviations: ADE, adverse drug event; AICD, automatic implantable cardioverter–defibrillator;
CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure; LFT, liver function test; MAO, monoamine
oxidase; MMR, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NSAIDs,
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; PT/INR, prothrombin time/International Normalized
Ratio.
Discussion
One of the contributions of this work are the triples. These triples can be leveraged
with at least two informatics tools: (1) Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools and
(2) CDS tools.[14] In the case of NLP, the triples provide increased accuracy in tagging the unstructured
text, which can influence other activities.[14] Triples also allow for the triggering of CDS rules, which in turn, can assist clinicians
while caring for their patients.[14] Semantics or attributes are one of the important components of these triples, which
will be discussed below.
The discussion about the KNARTS led to these new semantic relations. For example,
conversations with respect to risk of falls and prevention of falls led to the semantic
relations “has_risk_factor” and “prevents,” respectively. Other discussions about
glucose monitoring and glucagon injections led to the creation of “requires_regular_monitoring”
and “has_treatment,” respectively. Through this process, the remaining semantic relations
were developed.
Other semantic relations worth discussing involve “has_indication_for_prevention,”
“has_indication_for_prevention_primary,” and “has_indication_for_prevention_secondary.”
With these semantic relations, the organizing concept is “has_indication_for_prevention.”
The concept “has_indication_for_prevention_primary” refers to prevention before the
development of a disease. Finally, “has_indication_for_prevention_secondary” entails
prevention after one has a disease. This group of semantic relations provides additional
richness to SNOMED CT and Solor. This richness allows clinicians to be more expressive
while writing their notes.
One of the goals of this research was to provide as many examples for each semantic
relation as possible. This allows for the discovery of the most real-world applications.
In this way, improvements can be made to SNOMED CT and Solor, leading to increased
usability by clinicians. In addition, these real-world cases can then be used for
CDS rules
Much like SNOMED CT, the Solor classifications for the new semantic relations act
as a domain and a range. In some instances, the classifications can both be in SNOMED
CT. In the case of diabetes “has_risk_factor” obesity, the domain, or classification,
is disease and the range, or classification, is finding. However, in some cases, only
one classification is present in SNOMED CT. In the case of first-generation antihistamines
(classification medication) “has_adverse_reaction_in_population” elderly (classification
age), the classification “medication” is in RxNorm, whereas the classification “age”
is in SNOMED CT. Thus, the new Solor semantic relations and their classifications
bring the three terminologies in Solor together.
The semantic relations also enhance the expressiveness of Solor. This is accomplished
by adding terms for laboratory results and drugs, which are linked by the new semantic
relations. Here, LOINC and RxNorm contribute new subjects and objects, which can be
utilized with the semantic relations. This provides multiple ways to represent thoughts
clinicians choose to convey in their chart notes.
Clinicians need ways to represent the meaning of their utterances. Semantic relations
and SNOMED CT attributes allow them to better communicate the meaning of these utterances
in their clinical notes. Likewise, these new semantic relations for SNOMED CT and
Solor give clinicians additional methods for communicating this meaning.
The new SNOMED CT and Solor semantic relations can also play an important role in
CDS. Here, the data from clinical notes and reports, with additional detail and meaning
from the semantic relations, can then be used to trigger CDS rules. This, in turn,
can improve the CDS provided to clinicians.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is believed that the new SNOMED CT and Solor semantic relations
will allow for different ways to represent the detail and meaning in clinical notes.
This will then improve CDS rules, and ultimately, the CDS provided to clinicians during
patient care. As such, the semantic relations will enhance the utility of Solor.
In the future, we will test these new semantic relations with the HD-NLP system using
clinical text. Finally, these semantic relations will be submitted to SNOMED CT for
consideration for inclusion in the main standard.