biology

Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine

Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine rather than just read about it. In short: The Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) is a systematic, computer-processable collection of medical terms, in human and veterinary medicine, to provide codes, terms, synonyms and definitions which cover anatomy, diseases, findings, procedures, microorganisms, substances, etc. It allows a consistent way to index, store, retrieve, and aggregate medical data across specialties and sites of care.

Key takeaways

Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) is a systematic, computer-processable collection of medical terms, in human and veterinary medicine, to provide codes, terms, synonyms and definitions which cover anatomy, diseases, findings, procedures, microorganisms, substances, etc. It allows a consistent way to index, store, retrieve, and aggregate medical data across specialties and sites of care. Although now international, SNOMED was started in the U.S. by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) in 1973 and revised into the 1990s. In 2002 CAP's SNOMED Reference Terminology (SNOMED RT) was merged with, and expanded by, the National Health Service's Clinical Terms Version 3 (previously known as the Read codes) to produce SNOMED CT. Versions of SNOMED released prior to 2001 were based on a multiaxial, hierarchical classification system. As in any such system, a disease may be located in a body organ (anatomy), which results in a code in a topography axis and may lead to morphological alterations represented by a morphology code. In 2002 the first release of SNOMED CT adopted a completely different structure. A sub-type hierarchy, supported by defining relationships based on description logic, replaced the axes described in this article. Versions of SNOMED prior to SNOMED CT are planned to be formally deprecated from 2017. Therefore, readers interested in current information about SNOMED are directed to the article on SNOMED CT.

Purpose SNOMED was designed as a comprehensive nomenclature of clinical medicine for the purpose of accurately storing and/or retrieving records of clinical care in human and veterinary medicine. The metaphor used by Roger A. Côté, the first editorial chair, was that SNOMED would become the periodic table of elements of medicine because of its definitional organization beyond the hierarchical design. Indeed, diseases and procedures were ordered hierarchically and are further referenced back to more elementary terms

History SNOMED was originally conceived by Côté as an extension of the design of the Systematized Nomenclature of Pathology (SNOP) applicable for all medicine. SNOP was originally designed by Arnold Pratt to describe pathological specimens according to their morphology and anatomy (topography). The ambitious development of SNOMED required many more axes (see multi-axial design, below). SNOMED was jointly proposed for development to the College of American Pathologists by Côté and Pratt. The former was appointed as editorial chair of the Committee on Nomenclature and Classification of Diseases of the CAP and developed the SNOMED from 1973 to 1997. In 1998, Kent Spackman was appointed to chair this committee and spearheaded the transformation of the multi-axis systems into a highly computable form (See SNOMED CT): a directed acyclic graph anchored in formal representation logic. In 2007, the newly formed International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO) acquired all the Intellectual Property of SNOMED CT and all antecedent SNOMED versions. Brief timeline:

1965 SNOP 1974 SNOMED 1979 SNOMED II 1993 SNOMED International 3.0 1995 SNOMED Microglossary of Signs and Symptoms 1993-98 SNOMED International versions 3.1-3.5 2002 First release of SNOMED CT 2007 All versions of SNOMED acquired by IHTSDO 2017 All SNOMED versions except SNOMED CT have been formally deprecated by IHTSDO

Reference ontology SNOMED was designed from its inception with complex concepts defined in terms of simpler ones. For example, a disease can be defined in terms of its abnormal anatomy, abnormal functions and morphology. In some cases, the etiology of the disease is known and can be attributed to an infectious agent, a physical trauma or a chemical or pharmaceutical agent.

Multi-axial design The current concept uses eleven (11) axes that comprise terms organised in hierarchical trees. The axes and some examples are provided below:

T (Topography) – Anatomic terms (T-28000) Lung (T-32000) Heart (T-51000) Mouth (T-D2500) Hip (T-D9600) Heel

M (Morphology) – Changes found in cells, tissues and organs (M-40000) Inflammation (M-44000) Granuloma (M-54700) Infarcted (M-54701) Microscopic infarct For the Morphology axis, SNOMED has agreed to collaborate and use the same harmonized codes shared with International Classification of Diseases for Oncology. Additional examples on topology are provided on that page.

L (Living organisms) – Bacteria and viruses (L-21801) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (L-25116) Streptococcus pneumoniae

C (Chemical) – Drugs (C-C137A) Bufferin Analgesic Tablets (C-C137B) Bufferin Analgesic Caplets

F (Function) – Signs and symptoms (F-03003) Fever

J (Occupation) – Terms that describe the occupation Kindergarten teacher (13420) Computer programmer (08420) Doctor (06105) Professional Nurse (General) (07110) Beautician (57040)

D (Diagnosis) – Diagnostic terms (D-13510) Pneumococcal pneumonia (D-14800) Tuberculosis (D3-15000) Myocardial infarction

P (Procedure) – Administrative, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures

A (Physical agents, forces, activities) – Devices and activities associated with the disease

S (Social context) – Social conditions and important relationships in medicine (S-10120) Mother

G (General) – Syntactic linkages and qualifiers

See also Diagnosis code Drug class DOCLE Medical classification SNOMED CT Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) Pathology Messaging Implementation Project

References

External links Official page at snomed.org (now redirects to www.ihtsdo.org) Studies of the formal structure of SNOMED CT at buffalo.edu SNOCat: the SNOMED Categorizer/Browser to automatically encode medical narratives - provided by the BiTeM group (http://bitem.hesge.ch) !

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine

In research: Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anatomical terminology, Clinical procedure classification, Diagnosis codes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine in simple terms?

Why does Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine.