Interactive Information Visualization
to Support Protocol-based Care

 Asbruflow screenshot
Team  Stephan Hoffmann,Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Software Technology and Interactive System, Vienna, Austria
Wolfgang Aigner, Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Software Technology and Interactive System, Vienna, Austria
 
Contact Person  Stephan Hoffmann
 
Project  The aim of this project was to develop a interactive visualization toolkit to support protocol-based care. Based on the Software Prototype CareVis, this project is a approach to communicate the complex logic of Asbruplans to domain experts like physicians or nursing staff. Asbru can be used to express clinical protocols as skeletal plans that can be instantiated for every patient. Since a plan is modeled in XML, this representation is not well suited for physicians.
To illustrate a Asbruplan, it is neccessary to display different types of data: logical sequences, time-oriented data, flexible execution order, non-uniform element types and state characteristics of conditions.
AsbruFlow meets this requirements providing multiple views and using visualization methods well-known to domain experts. The tightly coupled views are based on the concepts of clinical algorithm maps and LifeLines.
This project was developed under Eclipse 3.4.0 with JDK 1.6, Prefuse beta (release 2007.10.20) toolkit and the TimeVis API developed by Peter Weishapl.

The particulary requirements were:
  • Data abstraction directly from Asbru plans
  • Represent the logical structure of a Plan graphically
  • Provide interaction and Focus+Context mechanisms
Interaction mechanisms
  • Adding/Removing Facets dynamically in the Temporal View.
  • Adjustable fisheye parameter in the Temporal View
  • Drag&Drop interaction between Temporal&Logical View
  • Linking+Brushing
Focus+Context mechanisms

Logical View:
  • Overview+Detail mode: a small window containing a downscaled, simplified tree overview where the current position within the plan is highlighted. This small overview window can be toggled on or off.
  • Fisheye View mode: distorts elements that are out of the current focus geometrically by shrinking and moving.
Temporal View:
  • Collapsed Facets: Collapsing facets leads to vertically shrunk and semantically zoomed representations.

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Downloads 
download
 >> Download AsbruFlow prototype executeable jar
Filename: AsbruFlow.zip
Needed application: Java JRE 6
 Size: 1,3 MB

download
 >> Download the programm architecture of AsbruFlow
Filename: architecture.pdf
Needed application: PDF Viewer
 Size: 352 kB

download
 >> Download the user manual for AsbruFlow
Filename: usermanual.pdf
Needed application: PDF Viewer
 Size: 92 kB

 
Images  To retrieve an enlarged version of the images, click on them:
 

AsbruFlow application window showing a Jaundice plan.

AsbruFlow application window showing a Jaundice plan.
Logical View in Overview&Detail mode
 		 AsbruFlow application window showing a ControlledVentilation plan.

AsbruFlow application window showing a ControlledVentilation plan.
Logical & Temporal View in FishEye mode
 
Related Work  Aigner, W. & Miksch, S: CareVis: Integrated Visualization of Computerized Protocols and Temporal Patient Data, Artifical Intelligence in Medicine (AIIM), Vol. 37, No. 3, p. 203-218, Elsevier, July, 2006.

Aigner, W. & Miksch, S: Communicating the Logic of a Treatment Plan Formulated in Asbru to Domain Experts, Kaiser, K.; Miksch, S. & Tu, S. (eds.), Computer-based Support for Clinical Guidelines and Protocols. Proceedings of the Symposium on Computerized Guidelines and Protocols (CGP 2004), Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, Vol. 101, p. 1-15, IOS Press, 2004.