Automation Or Computerization Of The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Tuberculosis

1.0 GENERAL OVERVIEW
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Today, “Computer Decision Support Systems” are designed and used in various fields of science. In this new atmosphere, “Expert Systems”, as a sub-branch of Artificial Intelligence, play a central role. Computer has come to play a vital role in this dynamic world. In Expert Systems, decisions are made by the computer. Expert Systems are knowledge-based systems that initially acquire knowledge from an expert person, and then transfer it to the computer, so that by making decisions based on the data collected, they can be of help to humans. So far, many Expert Systems have been presented in various fields like industry, control, space, financial decisions, etc. Expert Systems have also found their way into medicine. For example; Dendral software program (1965) to describe and express molecular structure, MYCIN software (1976) for diagnosis of coronary heart diseases, VM for monitoring Intensive Care patients, CADCUCEUS for diagnosing internal medicine related diseases, BLUEBOX for diagnosis and treatment of depression, as well as systems that detect acidic electrolytes, and management of anesthesia education. A medical Expert System is a computer program that helps with decision making for diagnosis of diseases and suggests treatment methods. Once patient’s data are entered, the system performs diagnosis of disease, predicts potential complications, and suggests treatment method. These systems are distinct from other medical software, since, to arrive at a medical result, they imitate the rationale of an expert physician. Expert systems require many rules and facts of medical science about diseases and condition of the disease to be able to make decisions and present accurate results.
Tuberculosis is the ninth leading cause of death worldwide and is the leading infectious cause, ranking above HIV/AIDS. In 2016, about 1.3 million HIV negative people died due to tuberculosis. In populations with a high Tuberculosis prevalence, the tuberculin skin test is of little value in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in adults. A positive tuberculin skin test or sputum test does not by itself distinguish M. tuberculosis infection from tuberculosis disease conditions often associated with a false-negative tuberculin skin and sputum include HIV infection severe, malnutrition and military tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is a chronic bacterial infection that primarily affects lungs, but may also spread to other organs. In early stages of development, it is so latent that can only be detected by X-rays. With progress of pulmonary TB, symptoms of coughing, fever, and bloody sputum are seen. Other symptoms include weight loss, night sweats, and chest pain. Physician or the expert person suspects tuberculosis through taking medical history, physical examination, laboratory tests, radiography, and in some cases tuberculin test.
The major goals of treatment for TB disease are to; Cure the individual patient, minimize risk of death and disability, and Reduce transmission of M. tuberculosis to other persons.
To ensure that these goals are met, TB disease must be treated for at least 6 months and in some cases even longer. Most of the bacteria are killed during the first 8 weeks of treatment; however, there are persistent organisms that require longer treatment. If treatment is not continued for a long enough duration, the surviving bacteria may cause the patient to become ill and infectious again, potentially with drug-resistant disease. There are several options for daily and intermittent therapy, but the goal of treatment for TB disease should be to provide the safest and most effective therapy in the shortest period of time. Given adequate treatment, almost all patients will recover and be cured. Regimens for the treatment of TB disease must contain multiple drugs to which the bacteria are susceptible. The standard of care for initiating treatment of TB disease is four-drug therapy. Treatment with a single drug can lead to the development of a bacterial population resistant to that drug. Likewise, the addition of a single drug to a failing anti-TB regimen can lead to additional resistance. When two or more drugs to which in vitro susceptibility has been demonstrated are given together, each helps prevent the emergence of tubercle bacilli resistant to the others.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This research was carried out to find out how patients of tuberculosis are diagnosed and treated in Federal Medical Center (FMC), Bida. After due findings, the problems identified in Federal Medical Center (FMC), Bida are:
i. Limited time for diagnose and treatment.
ii. Limited number of skilled manpower (i.e. shortage of Medical experts).
iii. Unavailability of modern equipment.
iv. Poor record keeping and in-effective retrieval of records.
v. Limitation in range of service.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The major aim is to present a program (Expert System) for diagnosing and treatment of tuberculosis (TB), and the proposed system is to be in a web base form.
The main objectives of this program are:
i. To improve the accuracy and efficiency of clinical diagnosis and treatment to integrate data from diverse sources.
ii. To improve the accuracy and encourage partial self-medication.
iii. To reduce cost for diagnosing and treatment of patients.
iv. To save time. It saves the patient from delay of waiting for human expert (i.e. the consultant) to be attended to.
v. The program can supplement and reduce the problem of lack of skilled and adequate medical expert in the country as a whole.
vi. Finally, to eliminate the problem of keeping and retrieving records manually in federal Medical Center, Bida.

1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATION
The scope of this project is limited to only respiratory system of the body, diagnosis and treatment on occupational lung diseases. It should be noted that the signs and symptoms of patients are reported to the physician by the patient and the physician in this case is the computer. This system is not designed to know if a patient is a carrier of tuberculosis either by touching, sputum test or coming in contact with the patient, but just as the physician uses the symptoms which were told to him by the patient to prescribe drug, the system uses the signs and symptoms as well.
The physical contact or sputum test is beyond the scope of this Project.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
One of the most important things to handle with carefulness in life is the Human Health. Therefore, this research work has come to deal with such critical issues that pertain human and his physical environment which is significant to all aspect of human endeavor.
Below are the significances of this project work:
i. It will help reduce the rate of death recorded in Nigeria through Tuberculosis disease.
ii. It will educate the general public on the causes, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis disease.
iii. It will give accurate diagnosis result to patients since it involves integrating the knowledge of different experts.

1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS
i. TUBERCULOSIS: is a bacteria disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism is known as tubercle bacilli.
ii. MILIARY TUBERCULOSIS (M. tuberculosis): is the result of heavy blood spread of bacilli which then seed into hugs, heir, spleen and brain. At first only loss of energy and activity loss of weight and fever are caused.
iii. BROCHIAL: a respiratory disorder characterized by inflammation of the branch and causing difficulty in breathing.
iv. HYPERREACTIVITY: means that when branch is exposed to stimulus, they respond in an exaggerated way by constricting the way muscle and making it difficult to breath.
v. PNEUMONIA: a serious disease of the lungs that make it difficult for you to breath.
vi. DYSPNEA: it is a heart disease; it causes sudden bouts of shortness of breath.
vii. HEMOPTYSIS: it involves coughing up blood which may appear as pinkish forth mucus with a bloody streak or doth or pure blood.