Method and system for ontology driven data collection and processing

Abstract

Systems and method to aid in the collection, representation and mining of data are disclosed. More particularly, embodiments as disclosed may utilize a unifying format to represent data obtained or utilized by a system to facilitate linking between data from different sources and the commensurate ability to mine such data. Specifically, embodiments may represent data as graphs that comprise the concepts and relationships between those concepts. In this manner, concepts in graphs that represent distinct groupings of data may be mapped and knowledge mining with respect to these graphs facilitated.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for data mining, comprising:
 an informatics system, comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for:   receiving an input from one or more data sources;   translating data of the input to a graph representation of the input based on a graph representation of a source ontology;   obtaining a graph representation of a domain ontology, wherein the domain ontology comprises a set of concepts and a set of relationships;   mapping the graph representation of the input to the graph representation of the domain ontology to create a unified graph comprising the graph representation of the input and the graph representation of the domain ontology;   providing the ability to construct a query based on at least one of the set of concepts or at least one of the set of relationships of the domain ontology; and   searching the unified graph based on the query to obtain data of the input associated with at the at least one of the set of concepts or the at least one relationships on which the query is based.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the domain ontology includes the unified medical language system (UMLS) or GALEN. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the domain ontology is represented in Simple Knowledge Organization System representation (SKOS). 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the input is survey response. 
     
     
         5 . A survey system, comprising:
 an informatics system, comprising a processor and coupled to one or more data sources, the informatics system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for:   creating a survey based on a survey ontology and a domain ontology, wherein the survey is a graph representation of a set of questions and a set of answers and the creation of the survey creates a unified graph between the survey, a graph representation of a survey ontology and a graph representation of domain ontology   distributing the survey to one or more data sources;   receiving a survey response from the one or more data sources;   creating a graph representation of the survey response; and   adding the graph representation of the survey response to the unified graph such that the unified graph includes the graph representation of the survey response.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the survey is rendered for presentation to a user on the one or more data sources. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the survey is rendered at the one or more data sources based on the survey ontology. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions for:
 providing the ability to construct a query based on at least one of a set of concepts; and   searching the unified graph based on the query to obtain data of the survey response associated with at the at least one of the set of concepts on which the query is based.   
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising instruction for:
 receiving an input from one or more data sources;   translating data of the input to a graph representation of the input based on a graph representation of a source ontology;   obtaining a graph representation of a domain ontology, wherein the domain ontology comprises a set of concepts and a set of relationships;   mapping the graph representation of the input to the graph representation of the domain ontology to create a unified graph comprising the graph representation of the input and the graph representation of the domain ontology;   providing the ability to construct a query based on at least one of the set of concepts or at least one of the set of relationships of the domain ontology; and   searching the unified graph based on the query to obtain data of the input associated with at the at least one of the set of concepts or the at least one relationships on which the query is based.   
     
     
         10 . The computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the domain ontology includes the unified medical language system (UMLS) or GALEN. 
     
     
         11 . The computer readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the domain ontology is represented in Simple Knowledge Organization System representation (SKOS). 
     
     
         12 . The computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the input is survey response. 
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising instruction for:
 creating a survey based on a survey ontology and a domain ontology, wherein the survey is a graph representation of a set of questions and a set of answers and the creation of the survey creates a unified graph between the survey, a graph representation of a survey ontology and a graph representation of domain ontology   distributing the survey to one or more data sources;   receiving a survey response from the one or more data sources;   creating a graph representation of the survey response; and   adding the graph representation of the survey response to the unified graph such that the unified graph includes the graph representation of the survey response.   
     
     
         14 . The computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the survey is rendered for presentation to a user on the one or more data sources. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable medium of  claim 14 , wherein the survey is rendered at the one or more data sources based on the survey ontology. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 13 , further comprising instructions for:
 providing the ability to construct a query based on at least one of a set of concepts; and   searching the unified graph based on the query to obtain data of the survey response associated with at the at least one of the set of concepts on which the query is based.