Visualizing Traditional Chinese Medicine and Information Representation and Retrieval: Opportunities and Challenges in a New Era of Big Data

Computer-based medical diagnostic systems have seen tremendous growth since the 1950s, particularly with the arrival of personal computers, the Internet, portable devices, and big data analytical environments. Such technologies utilize the fundamental principles of information representation and retrieval (IRR) to solve complex questions pertaining to health and disease. However, since inception, such systems have virtually ignored traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) techniques, oftentimes due to their lack of success in randomized controlled trials. To this day, little is known about how TCM works scientifically and, yet, it remains an essential part of the world’s healthcare system, particularly in several Asian countries. As disease remains widespread across society, the diagnostic and treatment methods of TCM should be compared alongside Western medical models, in light of modern IRR techniques, to determine if a new, futuristic form of translational medicine can be developed that improves medical outcomes and reduces health care costs worldwide.