The individual support system for adapting traditional Japanese (Kampo) medicine - to choose right formulation and track patients’ history-

Recently the problems faced by people with developmental disabilities have been recognized in Japan. In past studies various education behavior management information systems to help overcome their difficulties have been developed by us. A feature of our systems is to consider each individual’s specific difficulties and to try to develop a support program ‘tailor-made’ for each person, rather than using the same support system for many individuals. We now think that such a system could also be developed for patients taking traditional Japanese medicine (Kampo medicine) because formulations (decoctions of mixtures of herbs according to specific formulas) have to be prescribed for each patient according to his/her specific physical characteristics and the progression of illness. At the present time, doctors and pharmacists need a lot of knowledge and experience in this field in order to choose an appropriate formulation for the patient.Using a system we developed, it is easy to gather patient information, e.g., changes in symptoms and feelings, and daily activities including ones usually not seen as important for medical diagnosis. Although the amount of the information may be huge, AI may reveal some patterns and relationships not otherwise obvious. Such information may make formulation easier than just depending on the specific knowledge and experience of the formulator. Another benefit of the system is to make tracking of the patient’s history easier. Our preliminary case study suggests that this system could have benefits for both doctors and patients.