Research on the construction and application of pathology knowledge graph

Abstract

Background

Digital transformation in pathology education faces three bottlenecks: fragmented knowledge transfer, low morphological diagnostic accuracy, and weak clinical reasoning. While knowledge graphs (KGs) offer potential solutions, existing medical KG lack multimodal integration and competency assessment. We designed an integrated Multimodal Knowledge Graph (MKG) with O-PIRTAS pedagogy to bridge these gaps.

Methods

Following Design Science Research Methodology, we built a pathology-specific MKG featuring: (1) Semantic modeling of disease mechanisms (etiology-pathogenesis-morphology-clinical), (2) Cross-modal alignment of digital slides/animations/clinical cases, (3) Embedded metrics (KII/MDA/CCAE) for competency quantification. A quasi-experiment with 533 medical students (2022 cohort control: n = 275; 2023 MKG-O-PIRTAS: n = 258) evaluated outcomes via exam scores, validated questionnaires, and stratified interviews.

Results

The MKG-O-PIRTAS group achieved significantly higher adjusted exam scores (76.14 vs. 73.72, p = 0.033) and 86% lower misdiagnosis rate in high performers (p = 0.015). Cognitive load diverged markedly (57.5 vs. 75.5, p = 0.007), with high performers dynamically contextualizing MKG nodes into clinical reasoning, while novices required scaffolded pathways. Over 80% of students endorsed enhanced knowledge integration and process optimization.

Conclusion

The MKG-O-PIRTAS artifact transforms scattered pathology knowledge into actionable clinical reasoning scaffolds, proving effective for personalized competency development. Future work will scale adaptive scaffolding and integrate real-time EMR modules, establishing a replicable paradigm for medical education intelligence.