A domain ontology for gait analysis and decision support on gait-related diseases

Abstract

The complexity of diagnosing and treating gait-related diseases necessitates the existence of a domain ontology that can support intelligent decision-making by gait experts and medical personnel. This study describes the development of a domain ontology for gait analysis and decision support on gait-related diseases. The process for developing the ontology followed a custom ontology development process that is based on the hybridisation of the Ontology 101 (OD-101) development methodology and Methontology, ensuring a systematic and replicable construction of the ontology. The design of the Gait Analysis Domain Ontology (GADO) embraced thirteen dimensions, making it the most comprehensive domain ontology for gait analysis compared to previous efforts. The GADO was created using the Protégé ontology editor and was evaluated by using ontology verification and validation procedures. Ontology verification was conducted by using the Framework for Ontology Conformance Analysis (FOCA) to assess domain task fit through competency questions and content richness of the ontology. The results demonstrated GADO’s suitability in representing the domain effectively. Ontology validation involved checking the structural and logical consistency of the ontology by using reasoners such as HermiT and Pellet and employing Description Logic and SPARQL queries to assess the ontology’s ability to respond to domain-specific queries accurately. The validation process confirmed the GADO’s effectiveness in facilitating the retrieval of relevant information. Thus, the GADO is positioned to enhance clinical decision support for gait-related diseases, thereby advancing the applications of ontology-enabled decision support systems.