System and method for creating customized ontologies

• US 20060053098A1
• Filed: 05/05/2005
• Published: 03/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BioWisdom Ltd. (Instem Plc)
• Original Assignee: Bio Wisdom Limited
• Inventors: Davis, Benjamin, Eldridge, Matthew David, Chambers, Jonathan Kim, Gardner, Stephen Philip, Hill, Robin Duncan, McMenamin, Conor, Miller Blue, Neil Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 7,505,989 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/367 Ontology
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

The invention relates generally to a system and method for creating custom multi-relational ontologies. The invention includes a system and method for creating a master ontology and the application of one or more customizing constraints to the master ontology. Also provided are methods for creating custom ontologies using path-finding and creation of custom ontologies by applying customizing constraints to extraction, assembly, curation, and publication processes.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for creating one or more customized ontologies from a master ontology, the system comprising:

a master ontology including a plurality of assertions, wherein an assertion comprises a first concept, a second concept, and a relationship between the first concept and the second concept;

means for applying one or more customizing constraints to the master ontology to produce a customized set of assertions; and

means for storing the customized set of assertions as a custom ontology.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising

a set of master data sources from which the plurality of assertions are derived, wherein the one or more customizing constraints includes a list of master data sources that are selected for exclusion from the custom ontology.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the list of master data sources that are selected for exclusion includes a subset of data sources from the set of master data sources.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a set of master data sources from which the plurality of assertions are derived;

and

wherein one of the one or more customizing constraints includes a list of additional data sources not in the set of master data sources to be utilized in the custom ontology.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a set of master data sources from which the plurality of assertions are derived;

and

wherein the one or more customizing constraints includes;

(i) a list of master data sources that are selected for exclusion from the custom ontology, and (ii) a list of additional data sources not in the set of master data sources to be utilized in the custom ontology.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a set of master data sources from which the plurality of assertions are derived, each master data source having a tag indicating its origin; and

wherein the one or more customizing constraints includes a list of excluded master data sources that are selected for exclusion from the custom ontology, wherein each master data source in the list is listed along with its origin tag.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a set of master data sources from which the plurality of assertions are derived;

and

wherein the one or more customizing constraints includes;

(i) a list of master data sources that are selected for exclusion from the custom ontology, and (ii) a list of additional data sources not in the set of master data sources to be utilized in the custom ontology; and

wherein the means for applying the one or more customizing constraints further comprises;

(i) means for removing assertions derived from the excluded master data sources from the plurality of assertions;

(ii) means for extracting additional assertions from the additional data sources; and

(iii) means for adding the additional assertions to the plurality of assertions to form the customized set of assertions.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a set of master data sources from which the plurality of assertions are derived;

and

wherein the one or more customizing constraints includes;

(i) a list of master data sources that are selected for exclusion from the custom ontology, and (ii) a list of additional data sources not in the set of master data sources to be utilized in the custom ontology; and

wherein the means for applying the one or more customizing constraints further comprises;

(i) means for removing assertions derived from the excluded master data sources from the plurality of assertions;

(ii) means for extracting additional assertions from the additional data sources;

(iii) means for curating the additional assertions; and

(iv) means for adding the additional assertions to the plurality of assertions to form the customized set of assertions.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a set of master data sources from which the plurality of assertions are derived;

and

wherein the one or more customizing constraints includes;

(i) a list of master data sources that are selected for exclusion from the custom ontology, and (ii) a list of additional data sources not in the set of master data sources to be utilized in the custom ontology; and

wherein the means for applying the one or more customizing constraints further comprises;

(i) means for removing assertions derived from the excluded master data sources from the plurality of assertions;

(ii) means for extracting additional assertions from the additional data sources;

(iii) means for validating the additional assertions; and

(iv) means for adding the additional assertions to the plurality of assertions to form the customized set of assertions.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more customizing constraints include one or more concepts that can be used in the custom ontology, wherein the one or more concepts are selected based on one or more properties of the one or more concepts.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more customizing constraints include one or more of:

concepts that can be used in the custom ontology;

concept types that can be used in the custom ontology;

relationships that can be used in the custom ontology;

or

relationship types that can be used in the custom ontology.

12. A computer-implemented method for creating one or more customized ontologies from a master ontology, comprising:

providing a master ontology including a plurality of assertions, wherein an assertion comprises a first concept, a second concept, and a relationship between the first concept and the second concept;

applying one or more customizing constraints to the master ontology to produce a customized set of assertions; and

storing the customized set of assertions as a custom ontology.

13. A computer-implemented method for creating one or more customized ontologies from a master ontology, comprising:

providing a master ontology including a plurality of assertions, wherein an assertion comprises a first concept, a second concept, and a relationship between the first concept and the second concept;

selecting a primary concept from the master ontology;

storing the primary concept;

providing a set of expansion parameters, wherein the set of expansion parameters specifies one or more secondary concept types and relationship types connecting the primary concept to the secondary concept types;

applying the set of expansion parameters to the master ontology to yield a set of secondary concepts connected to the primary concept by a set of primary relationships; and

connecting the set of secondary concepts to the stored primary concept using the set of primary relationships.