ISO 19465:2017

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 19465
First edition
2017-02
Traditional Chinese medicine —
Categories of traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical
terminological systems
Médecine traditionnelle chinoise — Catégories de systèmes
terminologiques de médecine traditionnelle chinoise (MTC) clinique
Reference number
ISO 19465:2017(E)
©
ISO 2017

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ISO 19465:2017(E)

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© ISO 2017, Published in Switzerland
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ISO 19465:2017(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Classification principles of TCMCTS . 2
4.1 Practicability . 2
4.2 Internality and systematic feature . 2
4.3 Extendibility . 2
5 Categorial structure of a TCM clinical terminological system (TCMCTS) .3
5.1 Overview . 3
5.2 Symptom and sign . 3
5.3 Examination objects . 4
5.4 Disease and pattern . 4
5.4.1 Overview . 4
5.4.2 Disease . 4
5.4.3 Pattern . 4
5.5 TCM operational approach . 4
5.6 Cause and mechanism of disease . 4
5.7 Theory and experience . 5
5.8 Therapeutic principle and method of treatment . 5
5.9 Chinese medicinals . 5
5.10 Body system. 5
5.11 Staging and transmission/transmutation . 5
5.12 TCM internal substance . 5
5.13 Environment or geographic location in TCM . 5
5.14 TCM equipment and device . 5
5.15 Unit of measurement and qualifier value in TCM . 6
5.16 Linkage . 6
5.17 Medical case record structure . . 6
5.18 Phrase . 6
Annex A (informative) Diagram of TCMCTS hierarchical structure . 7
Bibliography . 8
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ISO 19465:2017(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
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Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: www . i so .org/ iso/ foreword .html.
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 249, Traditional Chinese medicine.
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ISO 19465:2017(E)

Introduction
Clinical terms used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) healthcare are distinct from those used in
health care systems based on biomedicine. The proliferation of computer applications and increase
of electronic communication in TCM healthcare call urgently for specific standards. A terminological
system is required to support a consistent way of indexing, storing, retrieving and aggregating clinical
data of TCM. However, the process of standardization of clinical terminology of TCM is not compatible
with the needs. The large number of clinical terms in the TCM system cannot be effectively managed
without classification. The development of the category framework is a fundamental part of the
terminological system.
The objective of this document is to express a core categorial structure of TCM clinical terms. The
development of an International Standard will help existing users to develop a robust logical TCM
clinical terminology system.
The potential uses for this categorial structure are as follows:
— support developers of TCM clinical terminology systems (TCMCTS);
— support developers of new terminology systems concerning TCM;
— facilitate the representation of TCM clinical information using a standardized core model in a
manner suitable for computer processing;
— facilitate the mapping between TCM terminologies and biomedicine terminological systems.
The target groups for this document are the following:
— developers of TCM clinical terminology systems;
— developers of information systems that require a structured framework of concepts to facilitate
implementation;
— specialists who require common models of knowledge to facilitate the analysis of current and legacy
data from one or more information systems;
— clinicians and coders, to provide greater consistency in structure and organization when entering
and retrieving data using one or more terminology systems.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 19465:2017(E)
Traditional Chinese medicine — Categories of traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical terminological systems
1 Scope
This document specifies a categorial structure within the subject field of traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM) clinical practice. It describes the upper-level categories of TCM clinical terms and the
nomenclature of the hierarchical categories. It is applicable only to clinical terminological systems in
TCM disciplines, not to a comprehensive categorial structure of TCM, the conceptual definition of the
hierarchy categories, and terms for individual TCM concepts.
The following are considered outside the scope of this document:
— comprehensive categories of TCM;
— the conceptual definition of the hierarchy categories.
— terms for individual TCM concepts;
— the terms or categories of Kampo, Korean medicine and other traditional medicines.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http:// www .iso .org/ obp
3.1
concept
unit of knowledge created by a unique combination of characteristics
Note 1 to entry: Concepts are not necessarily bound to particular languages. They are, however, influenced by
the social or cultural background often leading to different categorizations.
[SOURCE: ISO 1087‑1:2000, 3.2.1, modified]
3.2
concept system
set of concepts (3.1) structured according to the relations among them
[SOURCE: ISO 1087‑1:2000, 3.2.11]
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ISO 19465:2017(E)

3.3
terminology
structured human and machine-readable representation of clinical concepts (3.1) required directly or
indirectly to describe health conditions and healthcare activities, and allow their subsequent retrieval
or analysis
[SOURCE: ISO 18104:2014, 3.1.9, modified]
3.4
terminological system
set of concepts (3.1) structured according to the relations among them, each concept being represented
by a sign which denotes it
[SOURCE: ISO 18308:201
...