ADVANCEMENTS IN INDIAN SYSTEM OF MEDICINE (ISM) INFORMATICS: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

Indian system of medicine has its root in India, evolved through a continuous process of transformation from its original Vedic form to the modern day Indian System of Medicine. This system of medicine has crossed the Indian Territory and made its presence in different parts of the globe. More often, the system remains unnoticed owing to its aboriginal facets. Digitalization or computerization could be mere online web resources or software for information and decision making. The entire gamut of these developments could be clubbed together in to a domain known as ISM informatics. This can be considered as one of the tributaries of the broader umbrella of health informatics and the same will help to elucidate the former in a better way. The present article tries to make a review of the recent developments in the field of ISM informatics, with a special focus on Ayurveda-informatics.

Headnote

ABSTRACT

Indian system of medicine has its root in India, evolved through a continuous process of transformation from its original Vedic form to the modern day Indian System of Medicine. This system of medicine has crossed the Indian Territory and made its presence in different parts of the globe. More often the system remains unnoticed owing to its aboriginal facets. Digitalization is one way to go about the problem which makes it accessible to those who need to know about it. This is the need of the hour as computers can store and retrieve large pool of data which is not the case with manual approach. This can be used for several purposes be it present or future. Digitalization or computerization could be mere online web resources or software for information and decision making. The entire gamut of these developments could be clubbed together in to a domain known as ISM informatics. This can be considered as one of the tributaries of the broader umbrella of health informatics and the same will help to elucidate the former in a better way. The term Indian System of Medicine embraces many different systems of medicine practiced in India that includes Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. The present article tries to make a review of the recent developments in the field of ISM informatics with a special focus on Ayurveda-informatics.

KEYWORDS: Ayurveda, Indian Systems of Medicine, Informatics

Cite this article:

Samal Janmejaya (2013), ADVANCEMENTS IN INDIAN SYSTEM OF MEDICINE (ISM) INFORMATICS: AN OVERVIEW, Global J Res. Med. Plants & Indigen. Med., Volume 2(7): 546-553

INTRODUCTION

Indian System of Medicine is the ethnic bequest deeply buried in the traditional believes of the people that are evolved through a continuous process of transformation from its original Vedic form to the modern day Indian System of Medicine. It has witnessed a paradigm shift from its oldest version of "Guru-Sishya-Ashram" tradition (a way of learning, by a disciple, from a Spiritual Mentor in an Ashram) to the modern day medical education system, formally taught in school of Ayurveda with use of all modern amenities. The present day Ayurveda has undergone many changes as per the need of the day but important principles have remained unchanged (Janmejaya Samal, 2013). This system of medicine has crossed the Indian Territory and made its presence in different parts of the globe. But the biggest problem in its accessibility is its aboriginal facets. Owing to its growing popularity it's high time to digitalize this system to place it before the global audience. Several endeavors have been made from different segments to develop some of the user friendly digital versions/software of this oldest and classical system of medicine but still it has to traverse a long way to meet the growing pace of time. This is highly essential because the world is getting digital day by day and the capacity of computers to store and retrieve a large pool of data easily which is not the case with manual approach. Computers have changed human approach in every field and health care sector is also a prey to it. ISM informatics can be considered as one of the tributaries of the broader umbrella of health informatics and the same will help to elucidate the former in a better way. Health Informatics is as much a result of evolution as planned philosophy, having its roots in the histories of information technology and medicine (Cesnik B, 2010). ISM informatics is a judicious integration of Information Technology and Ayurveda, and other allied disciplines of Indian medicine. Broadly the development of health informatics in India can bring three different benefits; firstly as an instrument in continuing education, they enable health workers to be informed and trained in advanced medical and health sciences; secondly, they deliver health services to the poor at rural and remote locations; thirdly, they can increase the transparency and efficiency of governance, which should in turn improve the availability and delivery of publicly provided health services (C P Chandrasekhar, 2001). Again the adoption of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in Ayurveda will enhance the interaction between modern medicine and Ayurveda (Sushant Sud, 2013). In this context a diligent effort has been made to review the recent developments in Indian System of Medicine (ISM) informatics under the broad umbrella of health informatics.

METHODOLOGY

Be it pure health informatics or ISM informatics, the discipline becomes purely technical in nature which is a judicious blend of information and communication technology and health or in the present context Indian System of Medicine. Practically speaking this goes beyond the scope of this article hence the same has not been dealt with. This article delineates a snapshot or an overview of the developments in India System of Medicine informatics based on systematic literature review. Various literatures such as published articles, books and monographs in the said domain have been reviewed systematically and the same has also been applied to web related resources for the purpose of this study.

DISCUSSION

ISM informatics is somehow similar to other advanced form of medical informatics but the domain is very limited, as it cannot include the advanced areas such as computer assisted surgery or robotic surgery, neuro-computers and Artificial neural networks etc. Different organizations are working towards this direction and more recently the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Bangalore, India has opened up a center known as Center for ISM informatics and Theoretical Foundations which was started in 1995 to give increased focus for the modernization of Indian 33,350 Tamil names of plants recorded in 26 well known texts pertaining to the Siddha system of medicine. These Tamil names have been correlated to 1600 botanical entities. The

nomenclature section also incorporates correlation of these plant species with around 66,000 vernacular names in different Indian languages. Detailed information has been compiled and incorporated for 500 plants recommended for BSMS curriculum of Siddha system. It was released in 2008 (Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2013). * CD on Medicinal plants on Unani System of medicine: This CD contains information on 307 plants (including the 275 plants recommended for BUMS curriculum) in Unani system of medicine. Five texts of Unani medicine have been used for this literary research.

A total of 380 plants have been identified as sources of Unani medicine from these texts. Around 500 plant entities have been estimated in Unani system of medicine. Five Classical text of Unani medicine have been used for this literary research. This was released in 2008 (Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2013). Global Journal of Research on Medicinal Plants & Indigenous Medicine || GJRMI ||Homoeopathy: A thorough review and data compilation from available literature (in India) relating to plants used in Homoeopathy has generated a master list of 550 botanical names. After establishing proper

synonym linkages, this number has got reduced to 506 plant species. Each of these 506 species has been analyzed for its geographical distribution. This has generated a list of 326 species which have been identified as "recorded in India". It incorporates such species, which are wild in India including naturalized ones and/ or cultivated/ planted in India. The Materia Medica section deals with the effect of 375 plant drugs (263 Indian & 112 exotic) on various body organs including the mind. Data has been derived from more than 23 published works dealing with Materia Medica of Homoeopathy. It was released in 2008 (Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2013). * CD on Medicinal plants on Ayurveda: "Dravya guna shastra" (Medicinal Plant Science) or Ayurvedic Materia Medica on plants is the complete science on pharmacognosy of the plants used in Indian medical heritage. This CD contains

comprehensive information about 370 plants recommended for BAMS syllabus. It includes around 2300 Sanskrit slokas (Hymns) with their translation in English. It contains 800 plant images, botanical correlation of Sanskrit names based on accepted studies and current understanding. Source of data embedded in this CD are compiled from around 20 Ayurvedic classical sources starting from 1500 BC to 1986 AD. It includes a glossary of around 3000 Sanskrit technical terms and popular articles. It was released in 2005. Besides this institute has also released some of other CDs such as neighborhood plants of Bangalore City in 2008, CDs on Indian medicinal plants in Trade in 2005, CD on plants of Charaka Samhita in 2003, CD on clinically important plants of Ayurveda in 2002, CD on Prakriti (How to analyze body constitution) in 2003, CD on medicinal plants of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in 2000. (Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2013). Similarly another organization contributing to this endeavor is the center for development of advanced computing, Pune, India which is a premier Research & Development (R&D) organization of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of

Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) for carrying out R&D activities in IT, Electronics and associated areas. This Global J Res. Med. Plants & (R&D) organization of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) for carrying out R&D activities in IT, Electronics and associated areas. This organization has created innovative software on various functionalities of Ayurveda known as AyuSoft (Center for Development of Advanced Computing, 2013).

AyuSoft:

This interactive software has been developed in collaboration with C-DAC, Pune; Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences and Department of Ayurveda, University of Pune; Jnana Prabodhini, NGO, Pune, India. It is a pioneering multidimensional effort for Indian traditional medical system that provides end-to-end medical solutions based on traditional medicines and helps in making health decisions that are expected to be more informed, more accurate and quicker. The target end user for this software may include hospitals, practitioners and researchers. It has wide range of applications including disease diagnostics and treatment, diet and life style advice, personal management information system, multimedia based encyclopedia, and textual and analytical report tool. It has the following components: (Center for Development of Advanced Computing, 2013)

* Vaidya Sanmitra: - This application covers most of the clinical requirements. It includes Maanusha Vritta (Personal management information system), case analysis, Master data management, Vyadhi Nidaana (Disease Diagnosis) (Center for Development of Advanced Computing, 2013).

* Prakriti Vichaya: - Prakriti (constitution) is a unique concept of Ayurveda that seeks to explain the element of individuality by expressing the unique trait of an individual that is defined by the specific and permanent composition of their Dosha (Humour) at conception. Prakriti plays an important role in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This module of AyuSoft covers Dosha Prakriti, Maanas Prakriti (Psychic Constitution), and Dhaatusaarataa (Tissue System) (Center for Development of Advanced Computing, 2013).

* AayurVidnyaana: - A knowledge base encompassing all the aspects of Ayurveda. It includes articles, research papers of the stalwarts from all over India; Collection of information related to different aspects of Ayurveda; Digitalized Brihattrayee (Three major treatises of Ayurveda constituting Charaka Samhita, Sushrut Samhita, Astanga Hridaya) in Devanaagaree Script; Video Clips of Therapeutic Procedures like Medicated emesis, Medicated massage, Blood Letting etc.; Photographs of different herbs, Instruments and Diseases; Audio Files of Dhanvantaree Stavana (Chants on God Dhantwantari) and other Mantra (Hymns)(Center for Development of Advanced Computing, 2013).

* Anveshaka: - Anveshaka is an interactive and high-speed data-mining tool useful for analyzing Ayurveda related data. It is useful to researchers and students for carrying out precise analytical search of classical data. It comprises of the common data report, Vyaadhi (Disease) diagnosis report, and Vyaadhi (Disease) treatment report (Center for Development of Advanced Computing, 2013).

* Vyaadhinidaan: - Provides decision support for probable diagnosis and treatment. It is based on comprehensive diagnostic and treatment data. In includes two important features i.e. Diagnostic features and Treatment features (Center for Development of Advanced Computing, 2013).

EasyAYURVEDA:

This has been developed by VHCA herbals which portray an excellent blend of Ayurveda and Information Technology. There is a whole unlimited bunch of literature in Ayurveda and the demand for such a tool that can make reading, searching easier is very high. Suppose a researcher is interested in herbs with sheeta virya (Potency) from the ancient texts of Ayurveda, the process may be so tedious and slow that output of the exercise shall fade away with the passage of time. But software like EasyAYURVEDA can make the process relatively easier and faster. EasyAYURVEDA is a Easy to use Ayurvedic software; contains database of more than 500 Medicinal Plants formulations; helps in advanced searching of herbs & formulations and herb's name in all Indian languages; Multiple string searching & single string searching, Indications on the basis both Ayurveda & modern diagnostic principles and terminologies. This software is the first of its kind in the history of Ayurveda and is the largest information portal of Ayurveda on internet (VHCA Herbals, 2013).

PRAKES:

This is one of the innovative software developed by Resource Center for Indian Language Technology Solutions- Malayalam, Center for Development of Advanced Computing, Thiruvanantapuram, Kerala, India and is available in both English and Malayalam version. It is an interactive menu driven interface. It helps in examining the Lakshanas (Symptomatology) and assessing the dominance of Tridoshas (Three Humors). Advices on preventive promotive health care services depending on humeral dominance. The system records the interactions and results along with the bio-data for future references. It helps generate the hard copy of these recordings (Malayalam Resource Centre, 2013).

BODY TUNE: (Computerized Ayurvedic Medicare/CAM):

This software has been developed by Dr.M.A Shajahan in 1983 in Govt. College of Indian Medicine, Bangalore in collaboration with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore which was proved clinically successful by Gujarat Ayurveda University. A newer version of the software was developed in collaboration with Cyberveda Technologies in 1988. This particular software neither replaces a doctor nor avoids the importance of doctor-patient relationship. It helps organize diagnostic methods in a classical way envisaged by Indian sages of Ayurveda. This user friendly interactive software promotes accurate diagnosis in a faster and organized way (Shajahan, M.A, 1993; VHCA Herbals, 2013).

PRAKRTI:

This innovative and expert software has been designed and developed by Chaitanya Consultancy, Pune in 1989. It renders services on different functionalities of Ayurveda such as Prakrati (Constitution), dietary advices, advices on daily regimens, likelihood of an illness and its precautionary measures.

PILEX:

As the name indicates, this particular software deals with entirety of piles. It is intended for the diagnosis, prognosis, complications and treatments of piles. It was designed and developed by Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar, Gujarat in 1990.

RASEX:

This innovative software was designed and developed by Government Ayurveda College, Trivandrum in collaboration with CIRA (Center for Information Research and Action), and C-DAC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing), Thiruvanantapuram in 1992. This package attempts to correlate the pharmacological properties with that of therapeutic properties with the help of computer. A database was created after collecting, organizing and storing all the pharmacological and therapeutic properties of single rasa drug using DBase III plus. A list of drugs, which conforms to the physician's specifications is collected and displayed in this package (Sushant Sud, 2013).

Ayurinformatics :

Ayur-informatics is a science dealing with the application of bioinformatics to the field of Ayurveda. It is the application of modern drug designing technology and bioinformatics to the field of traditional Ayurvedic system of medicine. This area is growing by leaps and bounds with some impressible and noticeable developments. Some of the recent works in this domain are as follows:

* An in-silico work based on Homology Modeling for the proteins of RAS, MYC, SRC, BRAC1, P53, and EGFR using Modeller9v7 software for establishing an Ayurvedic remedy for bronchial carcinoma was done by Preenon Bagchi et al., It reflects the use of classical Ayurveda drugs having importance in the cure of lung tumors (Preenon Bagchi et al.,2011).

* Another in-silico work based on COMT (Catechol-O-methyltransferase) gene was done by Preenon Bagchi et al., The work highlights the use of anti-psychotic herbal drugs as agonist to COMT mutation gene which inhibits the excessive dopamine production and cures Schizophrenia. The study reflects the use of herbs like Chandana (Santalum album), Shankhpushpi (Canscora decussata) and Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi) which have mental regenerative & antipsychotic property, their active compounds such as ßsantalol, xanthone and nardal respectively are docked with COMT mutation protein (Preenon Bagchi et al., 2012).

* An in-silico work based on Homology Modeling for the proteins of APP, APOE, Presenilin 1 and Presenilin 2 using Modeller9v7 and other software for establishing an in-silico Ayurvedic medication for Alzheimer's disease was carried out by Mohini Gore Active compounds of medicinal herbs like Sankhapuspi (Canscora decussata), Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi) and Kapikachu (Mucuna pruriens) have been used for the purpose of study (Mohini Gore 2010).

Ample of work is happening in the field of Ayurvedic education, teaching and training. This has not been reflected in the case with practice. A list of 4 PubMed indexed journals, 38 non PubMed indexed journals, 4 Hindi Ayurveda Journals, 26 Journals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and 11 magazines of Ayurveda have been documented (Ayurbhishak 2013). Many of the classical Ayurveda treatises such as Charaka Samhita, Sushrut Samhita, Astanga Sangraha, Astanga Hridaya, Sharangadhara Samhita, Madhav Nidan, Harita Samhita, Bhela Samhita and Kasyapa Samhita have been digitalized and are available on line (Ayurbhishak 2013). This academic and practice gap can be minimized by working on these issues in collaboration with renowned ISM practitioners with that of IT professionals.

CONCLUSION:

This era is rightly called as the digital age. Computer has immensely influenced human life. Computer has to do with every walk of human life so also the domain of medicine and health care. The medical informatics has grown by leaps and bounds but the same is not the case with ISM informatics. Things are relatively better and initiatives have already been started elsewhere but more and more endeavors are needed to place it on a noticeable height. As a specialized field this particular domain requires an integrative approach from both the field of Ayurveda and Information Technology. This judicious blend will definitely be of great help in different facets of Ayurveda be it clinical medicine, biomedical research or information storage and retrieval. Wider acceptance of these systems owing to their safe and efficacious therapeutics on many of human diseases has again created an urgent need for the development of ISM informatics. It has been widely observed that websites are mushrooming imparting information, education and communication in matters related to Indian systems of medicine but the authenticity of the same is skeptical which needs to be controlled with governmental support. Again there are lots of virgin areas which could be explored and worked out for better access, operation and above all better utility of Indian Systems of medicine. This can lead to the development of some work in the following domains of Indian System of Medicine. These may include;

* Computer based medical information retrieval

* Computers in Clinical Laboratory

* Computer assisted medical decision making

* Hospital information system

* Clinical information system

* Nursing information system

* Dietetic information system

* Computerized patient records

* Computerized prescriptions for patients

* Computer Assisted Patient Education and Health care information

* Telemedicine

* Computer Assisted Drug Discovery and Development

* Computer Assisted Instruction in Medicine

References

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