Data Intel Research
Bellraj Eapen
PhD Candidate
Information Systems,
DeGroote School of Business
McMaster University

Research Project: AI & Qualitative Study of CDSS
Summary
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are fast emerging as game-changers in healthcare. However, the impact of these emerging technologies on clinical outcomes is still limited, mostly due to design and adoption factors. There is a widening rift between clinicians and health IT professionals. Bell’s research involves exploring the entire circle of health IT from design to implementation and finally, adoption by the clinical community. Bell strives to bridge the gap between software engineering and clinical medicine.

Publications
Open-source Software Tools
LesionMapper
A Method and Tool for the Semantic Annotation of Dermatological Lesions for Documentation and Machine Learning
Diagnosis and follow-up of patients in dermatology rely on visual cues. Digital photography is resource-intensive, difficult to standardize, and has privacy concerns. We propose a simple method—LesionMap—and an electronic health software tool—LesionMapper—for semantically annotating dermatological lesions on a body wireframe. The tool is an open-source JavaScript package that can be integrated into web-based electronic medical records.

FHIRForm
Structured health data capture is pivotal to the success of any health information system. However, there is no widely accepted standard for the content and presentation of healthcare eForms. FHIRForm is a framework for managing healthcare forms leveraging the HL7 FHIR standard (specifically the Questionnaire resource).
Related Research & Technologies
Biography
Bellraj (Bell) Eapen is a techie dermatologist with expertise in JAVA, Python, .NET, Go, and Mobile development platforms. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in information systems at McMaster University. He has expertise in FHIR, Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence applications in healthcare. He is a proponent of open-source software and an expert in the OSCAR and OpenMRS EMR platforms. He has experience with frameworks such as Tensorflow and Apache Spark. His research interests include Clinical Decision Support Systems, Cutaneous Imaging, mHealth and Public Health Informatics.
Bell graduated in Medicine from St. Johns Medical College, Bangalore and went on to complete his residency in Dermatology from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. He is an avid healthcare blogger with several popular blogs in clinical medicine and eHealth. He is a specialist in health research dissemination through social media.