Werner Ceusters, MD, said descriptions of pain lack the kind of specificity that other specialties can rely on. The pain physician, unable to observe the patient’s pain, has to rely on the patient’s description, which can be highly subjective.
He said ontology could help by providing methods of distinguishing among categories and describing data in uniform and formal ways. Using a $794,000 NIH grant, Dr. Ceusters and colleagues will study data gathered from thousands of patients who suffer from oral and facial pain, including temporomandibular disorder.
Read the University of Buffalo Reporter report on patients pain.
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