Development of surgical operation data interchange model using XML and relational database

This research was focused on development of a surgical operation data interchange model using XML and relational database and development of a Web application to store, retrieve and transfer operative note data between database and XML file. In system analysis phase, surgeon requirement were collected using Delphi method, 27 expert surgeons for 9 specialty groups were selected. Three rounds of questionnaire were sent to experts asking for opinion on important of operative note data elements and suggestion to add new data elements. In system design phase, database design was done using entity-relationship (ER diagram) and normalization. XML format for operative data was designed using document type declaration - DTD and XML schema. Interchange model was designed using context diagram, dataflow diagram, system flowchart and process specification. A Web application was developed using PHP, database created in MySQL, files transfer in XML, PDF and HTML format. Majority of 27 expert surgeons agreed that all items in original operative note and additional items suggested to be included during this research are important. Inter-quartile range between expert opinion varied from 0 to 2. Most of them agreed that detail of procedures and difficulty found during operation are 2 items that should be defined specific fields in database table. All testing for process of storing operative note data into relational database, creation of operative note in XML format file from Web application, conversion of operative note content between XML format file VS relational database and transformation of operative note XML format file into portable document format - PDF and hypertext markup language format - HTML format revealed no difficulty nor major error. This suggest that development products comprised of XML schema, database model, an interchange model and a web application developed in this research can be used as a prototype of model and program to store, retrieve and transfer operative note data between hospitals in Thailand. Data interchange could be in offline mode using diskette, CD-ROM or USB drive or online mode using internet or intranet network.