Visualization Methods for Data Analysis and Planning in Medical Applications

@article{Kosara:IJMI:2002,
  author = {Robert Kosara and Silvia Miksch},
  title = {Visualization Methods for Data Analysis and Planning in Medical Applications},
  journal = {International Journal of Medical Informatics},
  year = {2002},
  volume = {68},
  number = {1–3},
  pages = {141–153},
  doi = {10.1016/s1386-5056(02)00072-2}
}

Time plays an important role in medicine, both the past and the future. The medical history of a patient represents the past, which needs to be understood by the physician to make the right decisions. The past contains two different kinds of information: measured data (such as blood pressure) and incidents (such as seizures). Planning therapies, on the other hand, requires looking into the future to a certain extent. Visual representations exist for both the past and the future, and they are very useful for getting a better understanding of data or a plan. This paper surveys visualization techniques for both data analysis and planning, and compares them based on a number of criteria.