Ontology is the study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, ontology deals with questions concerning what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences.
Radiological ontology
There are many ontologies in existence (see External links), but in 2006 the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) started to create an ontology related specifically to radiology, RadLex.
In radiology, ontological systems help to determine how "entities" are related to each other. For example:
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Lung cancer:
is a "Cancer"
is a "Disorder of the Lung"
has subtype "Small cell lung cancer"
has subtype "Non small cell lung cancer"
RadLex does not only list pathological entities, but also procedural, systems and reporting entities.
External links
If any of these links are broken or for other problems and questions, please contact [email protected].
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