FMA-RadLex: An application ontology of radiological anatomy derived from the foundational model of anatomy reference ontology.

Abstract

Domain reference ontologies are being developed to serve as generalizable and reusable sources designed to support any application specific to the domain. The challenge is how to develop ways to derive or adapt pertinent portions of reference ontologies into application ontologies. In this paper we demonstrate how a subset of anatomy relevant to the domain of radiology can be derived from an anatomy reference ontology, the Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA) Ontology, to create an application ontology that is robust and expressive enough to incorporate and accommodate all salient anatomical knowledge necessary to support existing and emerging systems for managing anatomical information related to radiology. The principles underlying this work are applicable to domains beyond radiology, so our results could be extended to other areas of biomedicine in the future.