Graphical Medical Language

Mister VCM, an anatomical rendition with graphical language about patient health, can be applied to drug labels to convey information about contraindications. (click image to enlarge)

To facilitate more rapid conveyance of patient information, French scientists have created a new symbolic language for doctors.

The new language is a series of primitive symbols used in a combinatory method to create icons and sentences that convey directions to doctors. Called Visualisation des Connaissances Médicales (VCM), or visualization of medical knowledge, the creators describe the imagery and recognition factor as similar to that of road signs or chemical product labeling.

The belief that a visual language would prove more effective came from a study in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, which concluded that more information can be remembered if conveyed in images. To test this theory, VCM creators quizzed practitioners and published their results in April.

“VCM can represent the various signs, diseases, physiological states, life habits, drugs, and tests described in drug monographs,” the VCM report says. “Grammatical rules make it possible to generate many icons by combining a small number of primitives and reusing simple icons to build more-complex ones. Icons can be organized into simple sentences to express drug recommendations.”

Study results concluded that VCM could be learned in two to seven hours. At that time, physicians in the study understood 89% of the tested VCM icons and answered correctly to 94%.

An illustration of Mister VCM from the study shows how drug interactions could be explained, such as with this penicillin tablet prescription. (click image to enlarge)

The application for drug packaging would be to provide a clear list of contraindications for doctors. A simple anatomical configuration, called Mister VCM, can inform doctors quickly about what conditions are affected.

“Mister VCM might be printed on a label for representing the main contra-indications of the drug, therefore facilitating the verification of the contraindications, such as during the drug delivery by the pharmacist,” says Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the report’s primary author.

VCM icons can also represent therapeutic classes of drugs, with the icon of the disease they indicate (as classified by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Drug Classification published by the WHO). A disease icon within a pictogram creates the drug icon. Drug administration is indicated by a pictogram of a cross if the administration is a tablet, a syringe for injectables, or a tube for topical administration.

VCM icons for prescription drugs are possible because drug monographs often mention the various properties of the prescription, such as dose or dose planning. Properties are represented by a green square as the external shape, with a central pictogram indicating the property (such as the drawing of a jigger for dose). The square shape can be modified to indicate a change to the drug property, for example by adding a downward arrow to the dose icon to indicate dose reduction.