A neural network expert system for diagnosing and treating hypertension

Hypernet (Hypertension Neural Expert Therapist), a neural network expert system for diagnosing and treating hypertension, is described. After a brief look at artificial neural networks, the authors describe the structure of the three modules that make up Hypernet, starting with the specific problem each network is intended to solve and explaining how the network is expected to operate. The tools developed for implementing the system are a compiler for a simple descriptive language that enables the authors to define, train, and test networks; a graphic editor that translates the network drawn by the user into the proper statements; and a set of programs for interactively generating the examples. The data used as examples, the learning phase, and the results of tests for evaluating the performance of each network are described, and conclusions about overall system results are presented.