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From: baba@flairvax.UUCP (Baba ROM DOS)
Newsgroups: net.ai
Subject: Re: Medical Expert Systems - China
Message-ID: <801@flairvax.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 28-Oct-84 16:15:13 EST
Article-I.D.: flairvax.801
Posted: Sun Oct 28 16:15:13 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 30-Oct-84 19:43:29 EST
Organization: Fairchild AI Lab, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 17

Michael Weisskopf wrote an article for the Washington Post, recently reprinted 
in the San Francisco Chronicle, concerning a rather remarkable medical expert 
system.  A little awareness of the signal-to-noise ratio of the popular press
is in order, but it's interesting if true:

In Nanjing, China, in 1981, the city's most prominent herbalists, all
in their 80s, decided to bequeath their expertise and texts to a computer data
base.  The system is operated by a paramedic in consultation with the patient.

"In three years of practice two afternoons weekly, the machine has treated
 6000 patients with what is reported to be a higher rate of recovery than
 ordinary physicians boast.  The fee usually falls under $1 per visit, 
 including the cost of the medicinal herbs."

It runs on a TRS-80.

					Baba