Plexusdx: an Expert System with Three Dimensional Localization Modelling for the Brachial Plexus

The brachial plexus is a complex anatomical structure that links the cervical spine with muscles and dermatomes of the arm. An expert neurodiagnostic system, PlexusDx, has been developed to assist in the diagnosis of brachial plexus legions. This is part of a larger neuro-diagnostic system called Neurobridge. Benchmarks for lesions of the plexus were created and tested against diagnoses of various plexus lesions. Confidence factors were computed at nearly 100% accuracy for the benchmark against the correct diagnosis. A Lisp front end to the 3 dimensional drawing program POV-Ray has been developed and named Povlisp. Povlisp was used to define and draw a representation of the brachial plexus with a highlighted lesion to accompany a plexus diagnosis. PlexusDx may be a useful resource in medical offices as well as medical schools and other educational settings.