On parts and holes: the spatial structure of the human body
Donnelly, M.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 107(Part 1): 351-355
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0926-9630 PMID: 15360833 Document Number: 569130
Spatial representation and reasoning is a central component of medical informatics. The spatial concepts most often used in medicine are not the quantitative, point-based concepts of classical geometry, but rather qualitative relations among extended objects such as body parts. A mereotopology is a formal theory of qualitative spatial relations, such as parthood and connection. This paper considers how an extension of mereotopology which includes also location relations can be used to represent and reason about the spatial structure of the human body.