CD-MARKER: an Access relational database for differential diagnosis of hematologic neoplasms using immunophenotyping data obtained with flow cytometry.

• Abstract:
  A relational database was developed to facilitate the diagnosis of hematopoietic neoplasms using results of immunophenotyping by flow cytometry. This database runs on personal computers and uses backward-chaining search to arrive at conclusions. Results of immunologic markers are processed by the database to obtain a set of differential diagnoses. The current version of this database includes diagnostic immunophenotyping pattern for 33 hematopoietic neoplasms. We tested this database using 92 clinical cases from two tertiary medical centers. The database ranked the actual diagnosis as one of the top five differential diagnoses in 93% of the cases tested. The user can modify the database contents to suit individual needs. This database has been posted on the World Wide Web for direct access. We propose that this user-friendly database is a potential tool for computer-assisted diagnosis of hematopoietic neoplasms.
  
  
• Development platforms:
  CD-Marker was implemented in Microsoft Access 97 (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Washington) and was run on an IBM-compatible computer under Microsoft Windows. The inference engine of CD-Marker was built with Microsoft Visual Basic for Application (VBA) language. This inference engine uses a backward-chaining search strategy to draw conclusions.
  
  
• Publication:
  Nguyen, A.N.D., Milam J.D., Johnson K.A., Banez E.I.: A Relational Database for Diagnosis of Hematopoietic Neoplasms Using Immunophenotyping by Flow Cytometry. American J Clinical Pathology. 2000; 113:95-106

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