Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
Visualization of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas: Development and Usability Study
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
Visualization of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas: Development and Usability Study
Do you wish to request the book?
Visualization of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas: Development and Usability Study
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
Visualization of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas: Development and Usability Study
2023
Overview
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulas are combinations of Chinese herbal medicines. Knowledge of classic medicine formulas is the basis of TCM diagnosis and treatment and is the core of TCM inheritance. The large number and flexibility of medicine formulas make memorization difficult, and understanding their composition rules is even more difficult. The multifaceted and multidimensional properties of herbal medicines are important for understanding the formula; however, these are usually separated from the formula information. Furthermore, these data are presented as text and cannot be analyzed jointly and interactively.
We aimed to devise a visualization method for TCM formulas that shows the composition of medicine formulas and the multidimensional properties of herbal medicines involved and supports the comparison of medicine formulas.
A TCM formula visualization method with multiple linked views is proposed and implemented as a web-based tool after close collaboration between visualization and TCM experts. The composition of medicine formulas is visualized in a formula view with a similarity-based layout supporting the comparison of compositing herbs; a shared herb view complements the formula view by showing all overlaps of pair-wise formulas; and a dimensionality-reduction plot of herbs enables the visualization of multidimensional herb properties. The usefulness of the tool was evaluated through a usability study with TCM experts.
Our method was applied to 2 typical categories of medicine formulas, namely tonic formulas and heat-clearing formulas, which contain 20 and 26 formulas composed of 58 and 73 herbal medicines, respectively. Each herbal medicine has a 23-dimensional characterizing attribute. In the usability study, TCM experts explored the 2 data sets with our web-based tool and quickly gained insight into formulas and herbs of interest, as well as the overall features of the formula groups that are difficult to identify with the traditional text-based method. Moreover, feedback from the experts indicated the usefulness of the proposed method.
Our TCM formula visualization method is able to visualize and compare complex medicine formulas and the multidimensional attributes of herbal medicines using a web-based tool. TCM experts gained insights into 2 typical medicine formula categories using our method. Overall, the new method is a promising first step toward new TCM formula education and analysis methodologies.
Publisher
JMIR Publications
Subject
