Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Western Journal of Medicine logoLink to The Western Journal of Medicine
. 1986 Dec;145(6):778–785.

Origins of Medical Informatics

Morris F Collen 1,2
PMCID: PMC1307150  PMID: 3544507

Abstract

Medical informatics is a new knowledge domain of computer and information science, engineering and technology in all fields of health and medicine, including research, education and practice. Medical informatics has evolved over the past 30 years as medicine learned to exploit the extraordinary capabilities of the electronic digital computer to better meet its complex information needs. The first articles on this subject appeared in the 1950s, the number of publications rapidly increased in the 1960s and medical informatics was identified as a new specialty in the 1970s.

Full text

PDF
778

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abrams H. L., McNeil B. J. Medical implications of computed tomography ("CAT scanning") (second of two parts). N Engl J Med. 1978 Feb 9;298(6):310–318. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197802092980605. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BARLOW J. S. An electronic method for detecting evoked responses of the brain and for reproducing their average waveforms. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1957 May;9(2):340–343. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(57)90068-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barnett G. O., Greenes R. A. High-level programming languages. Comput Biomed Res. 1970 Oct 5;3(5):488–494. doi: 10.1016/0010-4809(70)90010-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brodziak A., Suchan L. Wdrazanie informatyki medycznej. Doswiadczenia wlasne. Pol Arch Med Wewn. 1975 Sep;54(3):233–241. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. CLARK W. A., MOLNAR C. E. THE LINC: A DESCRIPTION OF THE LABORATORY INSTRUMENT COMPUTER. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1964 Jul 31;115:653–668. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. GARDINER V., HOFFMAN J. G., METROPOLIS N. Digital computer studies of cell multiplication by Monte Carlo methods. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1956 Aug;17(2):175–188. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gabrieli E. Standardization of medical informatics. J Clin Comput. 1985;14(3):62–104. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Greenes R. A., Pappalardo A. N., Marble C. W., Barnett G. O. Design and implementation of a clinical data management system. Comput Biomed Res. 1969 Oct;2(5):469–485. doi: 10.1016/0010-4809(69)90012-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Harless W. G., Drennon G. G., Marxer J. J., Root J. A., Miller G. E. CASE: a Computer-Aided Simulation of the Clinical Encounter. J Med Educ. 1971 May;46(5):443–448. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Harless W. G., Drennon G. G., Marxer J. J., Root J. A., Wilson L. L., Miller G. E. CASE--a natural language computer model. Comput Biol Med. 1973 Oct;3(3):227–246. doi: 10.1016/0010-4825(73)90027-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Harrison A. J. Common elements and interconnections. Science. 1984 Jun 1;224(4652):939–942. doi: 10.1126/science.224.4652.939. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hatton F., Perdrizet S., Burghard G., Petitjean R. Etude d'un système informatique appliqué aux services de Santé Publique (services de lutte antituberculeuse dans le département du Bas-Rhin) Bull Inst Natl Sante Rech Med. 1970 May-Jun;25(3):427–436. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hunter T. The proteins of oncogenes. Sci Am. 1984 Aug;251(2):70–79. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0884-70. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. JUENEMANN H. J. THE DESIGN OF A DATA PROCESSING CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DATA. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1964 Jul 31;115:547–552. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Jennings D. M., Landweber L. H., Fuchs I. H., Farber D. J., Adrion W. R. Computer networking for scientists. Science. 1986 Feb 28;231(4741):943–950. doi: 10.1126/science.231.4741.943. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Koeppe P. Education in medical informatics in the Federal Republic of Germany. Methods Inf Med. 1977 Jul;16(3):160–167. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. LUSTED L. B. Medical electronics. N Engl J Med. 1955 Apr 7;252(14):580–585. doi: 10.1056/NEJM195504072521405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Ledley R. S. DIGITAL COMPUTATIONAL METHODS IN SYMBOLIC LOGIC, WITH EXAMPLES IN BIOCHEMISTRY. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1955 Jul 15;41(7):498–511. doi: 10.1073/pnas.41.7.498. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ligeziński P. Informatyka w słuzbie zdrowia. Pol Tyg Lek. 1972 Oct 30;27(44):1735–1739. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Pardon N. Informatique et médecine du travail. Arch Mal Prof. 1968 Dec;29(12):699–701. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rapp W. Fourth generation languages. Comput Healthc. 1985 Nov;6(12):38–40. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. SAENGER E. L., STERLING T. D. DESIGN AND OPERATION OF A MEDICAL COMPUTING CENTER. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1964 Jul 31;115:591–599. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. SHALEK R. J., STOVALL M. A. The calculation of isodose distributions in interstitial implantations by a computer. Radiology. 1961 Jan;76:119–120. doi: 10.1148/76.1.119. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. STERLING T. D., PERRY H., BAHR G. K. A practical procedure for automating radiation treatment planning. Br J Radiol. 1961 Nov;34:726–733. doi: 10.1259/0007-1285-34-407-726. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Uberla K. Medizinische Informatik. Neue Munch Beitr Gesch Med Naturwiss Medizinhist Reihe. 1978;7-8:629–633. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Yamamoto W. S. 'Medical information science': insisting on a name can blunt its impact. Med Inform (Lond) 1984 Jul-Dec;9(3-4):195–197. doi: 10.3109/14639238409015190. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Western Journal of Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES