continuum of the following ones: ‘bioinformatics – clinical informatics – nursing
informatics – dental informatics – public health informatics’, etc. W. Hersh defines
such a variety of determinants in front of the word ‘informatics’ ‘an adjective problem’
and indicates that this diversity leads to MI terminology ambiguity [15].
We strongly believe that the diversity of MI terminology results from its complex
evolutionary path under the influence of constantly progressing information and
communication technologies. In the diachronic perspective, MI-related terminological
system has passed three periods in its development [17]. The first one (the 1950’s –
1970’s) is associated with the rise of MI as a notion in the 1970’s. However, the birth
of the new science dates back to 1959, when the American radiologists R. Ledley and
L. Lusted published an article in which they discussed perspectives of using electronic
computing machinery to optimize statistical processing of data in medical diagnosis. It
is considered to be the first time when terms ‘medical computer science’ and ‘medical
information science’ were used in the English-language scientific literature [32].
The second period in the development of MI terminology covers the time span
between the 1970’s and the 1990’s. It is characterized by a purposeful formation of
MI-relevant terminology. In particular, in 1974, the author of the book Education in
Informatics of Health Personnel suggested to use the term ‘medical informatics’ as the
basic one for denoting application of computer technology in medicine [2]. Thereafter,
the term has widely been used in the titles of such MI professional organizations as
International Medical Informatics Association, American Medical Informatics
Association or European Federation for Medical Informatics.
Nevertheless, in the 1990’s, another term ‘biomedical informatics’ became
increasingly used along with ‘medical informatics’. E. Shortliffe attributes this fact to
the emergence of progressive technologies that enable scientists to understand the
nature of diseases at molecular and genetic levels [32]. Hence, the meaning of
‘biomedical informatics’ is often considered broader compared to the meaning of
‘medical informatics’ as its connotation highlights this scientific field’s relevance to
biochemistry, histology, genetics and embryology as sub-branches of biomedicine.
The third (modern) period (the early 2000’s – present time) is characterized by
the ramifying of MI terminology due to the penetration of information and
communication technologies into various spheres of medicine and healthcare systems.
Consequently, a wide range of MI-related terms (‘clinical informatics’, ‘nursing
informatics’, ‘dental informatics’, ‘public health informatics’, etc.) appear in scientific
studies. In most cases, they stress on the specifics of using information technology by
medical professionals in narrow fields of medicine and healthcare sector [17].
Nevertheless, one should not exclude further development of MI as a science with
new branches being constantly emerging. In particular, at the moment they include
imaging informatics, pathology informatics, consumer health informatics, translational
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