Remote access to anatomical information: an integration between semantic knowledge and visual data.

A novel internet-based application is presented which provides access to anatomy knowledge through symbolic modality expressed by keywords taken from controlled or non-controlled terminology. The system is based on a database where anatomical concepts have been organized into a hierarchical framework. Along with term queries that allow retrieving concepts containing or exactly matching the used keyword, the system also provides semantic access to anatomical information. Queries can be setup, which retrieve concepts relying to a particular meaning and sharing a particular relationship. Moreover, the application has the capability to refine the search of the terms by querying the UMLS knowledge server. Anatomical image data have been integrated by using Visible Human Dataset. A set of these images has been indexed according to our anatomical classification and is used inside the application. The system has been implemented through Java client-server technology and works within standard Internet browsers.