A Program for Therapy of Acid-base and Electrolyte Disorders

Abstract

This thesis describes work done on the therapy component of an on-going project for the diagnosis and management of acid-base and electrolyte disoders. Therapeutic interventions can be classified as symptomatic or etiologic, and as acute or chronic. We have focused on the problem of acute symptomatic therapy. Based on observation of clinical practice, we have developed a formalization of the domain-independent aspects of the task of acute symptomatic therapy, then applied the formalization to the particular field of acid-base and electrolyte disorders. A rule-based program named ABET (the Acide-Base ad Electrolye Therapy Advisor) has been designed and written to test this formalization. The thesis presents the methods used by ABET, the program's implementation, a sample session, and a discussion of limitations and possible improvements.