Assessment of a new decision support expert system in headaches cases

Continuous advancements in Information and Communication Technologies along with the consequent massive adoption of Web services provide today, exciting and effective decision support tools for many professions. The vital need for high levels of accuracy and effectiveness in homeopathic prescribing was the driving force behind the development of a new online expert system.

VithoulkasCompass is a web-based decision support tool, designed to aid the homeopathic practitioner in finding the individual correct remedy, by inputting relevant symptoms. Calibration and refinement of the algorithms and mechanisms that lead to the proposal of the correct remedy by the expert system are the key areas of continuous, on-going research, always confirming new developments against a very large number of real world cases from the archives of the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy (IACH).

A statistical assessment of VithoulkasCompass expert system platform has been performed on chronic headache cases. The methodology included two phases.

1. It analysed the performance of the software on cases already solved by homeopathy experts (and specifically Professor's George Vithoulkas), comparing the remedy provided by the human expert with the corresponding proposal of the system.

2. It assessed the support that the software provides live – in front of the patient - on cases solved by less experienced homeopaths. This evaluation process is based on statistical analysis of success rates derived from the assessment of the follow up on patients’ cases, according to the principles of classical homeopathy.

The first phase was initiated with the selection of successful cases from highly skilled expert homeopaths. Successful cases are cases where follow ups clearly indicate that the remedy acted curatively. After repertorisation of the cases an assessment process was performed on how accurately the proposed, software-generated remedies, successfully matched the human-prescribed remedies.

The second phase was about reviewing cases solved by homeopaths with the support of VithoulkasCompass expert system. After the initial input and the analysis of symptoms, a first set of proposed remedies was provided by the system. If the case was clear, the homeopath proceeded with the appropriate prescription. If the case was not clear, the differential analysis functions of the software were utilized in order to suggest symptoms not revealed by the patient and to finally single out the correct remedy. Along these lines, the contribution of the differential analysis function was also effectively assessed.

A team of scientists guided by Prof. Vithoulkas of the IACH and the Aegean University evaluated the results of the system and the curative effect of the consequent administered remedies.

Statistical analysis demonstrates that VithoulkasCompass expert system, has a very high accuracy in proposing appropriate remedies for treating patients suffering from chronic headaches, as well as showing high efficiency on individually prescribed homeopathic remedies, in many headache cases.