VIE-VISU
Metaphor Graphics to Visualize ICU Data over Time
The Project
The System
The Team
Publications
The Project
The aim of the project was to develop a visualization system
which support the easy recognition of a patient's status and
its change over time. VIE-VISU visualizes data stored periodically
(or continuously) in a patient data management system (PDMS) of an
intensive care unit (ICU).
The time-oriented analysis of electronic patient records at a (neonatal)
intensive care unit is a tedious and time-consuming task. The vast
amount of data available makes it hard for the physician to recognize
the essential changes over time. VIE-VISU is a data visualization
system which uses multiples to present the change in the patient's
status over time in graphic form. Metaphor graphics is used to sketch
the parameters most relevant in characterizing the situation of
a patient.
The change in the patient's status over time is depicted by 24
multiples. Each multiple is a highly structured metaphor graphics
object. Each object visualizes important parameters from
circulation, ventilation, and fluid balance. One display gives a
metaphor graphics summary on a time scale of six hours to six days
depending on the user's choice.
The following demonstration page shows a sample display.
 |
Sample VIE-VISU display (24 hours) |
The System
The VIE-VISU display system is a client-server application. It is
embedded into the standard network of bedside and nursing PDMS
workstations at two neonatal intensive care units at the
Department of Neonatology, University of Vienna.
VIE-VISU is activated by the PDMS using a special applications button.
The graphic display is overlayed to the standard PDMS window.
VIE-VISU is a Java based application. It communicates with a server providing
the necessary data.
This data server selects and preprocesses data from the PDMS.
The Project Team
The project is a joint cooperation of the
Department of Medical Cybernetics and
Artificial Intelligence (IMKAI),
the Austrian Research Institute for
Artificial Intelligence (ÖFAI),
and the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Department of Pediatrics of
the University of Vienna:
- Werner Horn, IMKAI & ÖFAI
- Christian Popow, NICU
- Barbara Riepl, IMKAI
- Christoph Stocker, IMKAI
- Lukas Unterasinger, NICU
Publications
- Horn W., Popow C., Unterasinger L.: Support for Fast Comprehension of ICU
Data: Visualization Using Metaphor Graphics, Methods of Information in
Medicine, 40, 421-424, 2001.
- Horn W., Popow C., Unterasinger L.: Metaphor Graphics to Visualize ICU Data
over Time, in "Intelligent Data Analysis in Medicine and Pharmacology
(IDAMAP-98)", Workshop Notes of the ECAI-98 Workshop, Brighton, UK, 25
August, 1998
(see also
ÖFAI TR-98-12).
- Popow C., Horn W., Unterasinger L.: VIE-VISU: ein Visualisierungssystem
für intensivneonatologische Daten, ÖGAI-Journal, 16(4)32-34, 1997.
- Riepl B.: Visualisierung von medizinischen Daten: Zeitliche
Veraenderung des klinischen Zustands, Master's Thesis,
Department of Medical Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence,
University of Vienna, 1997.
Contact
Werner Horn (email: werner@ai.univie.ac.at)
WH, 22-Nov-2001