active reference set member

A reference set member that is intended for use.

Notes

• Release files contain active and inactive reference set members to provide a historical record of the terminology at different points in time.

• A reference set member is active when the most recent row with the relevant id in the full release file has the value active =1 (one). The most recent row for a reference set member is determined based on the effectiveTime value.

Affiliate License

This is an abbreviation for Affiliate License Agreement

Affiliate License Agreement

The agreement between an Affiliate Licensee and SNOMED International.

Notes

• The agreement allows developers and implementers to use the SNOMED CT International Release and distribute the terminology to their sub-licensees as part of a software system.

Alternatives

• Affiliate License

• SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement

attribute hierarchy

A hierarchy in which a set of concept model attributes are linked to a more general attribute.

Notes

• Attribute hierarchies are represented in release files:

  • as subtype relationships in the relationship file.

  • as OWL SubObjectPropertyOf() axioms in the OWL Expression Reference Set file.

• • • Attribute hierarchy represented by three OWL expressions [code] SubObjectPropertyOf(:733930001 :774081006) SubObjectPropertyOf(:733931002 :774081006) SubObjectPropertyOf(:733932009 :774081006) [/code]

attribute group

An association between a set of attribute value pairs that causes them to be considered together within a concept definition or postcoordinated expression.

Notes

• When an attribute group is represented as a group of defining relationships it is usually referred to as a relationship group.

Example

• | Cholecystectomy with exploration of common duct| has two different attribute groups:

  • is grouped with

  • is grouped with

• If these attributes were not grouped, this procedure would incorrectly classified as a subtype of .

• Relationship group

• Role group

attribute cardinality

This is a synonym for attribute cardinality constraint.

attribute cardinality constraint

A constraint on the number of times that a specific attribute may be included in the same concept definition or expression.

Notes

• Constraints on attribute cardinality apply only to non-redundant attributes. A redundant attribute is an attribute with a value that is subsumed by another attribute in the same concept definition or expression.

• Cardinality constraints are represented by square brackets containing a minimum value value represented as an integer, optionally followed by two dots and a maximum value represented as an integer or as an asterisk *****.

  • If the maximum is omitted then the maximum cardinality is the same as the minimum cardinality.

  • If the maximum is an asterisk ***** the maximum cardinality is unlimited.

• The following expression constraint is satisfied by any clinical finding whose definition has two or more non-redundant finding sites, irrespective of the attribute group in which they are contained.

< : [2..*] = <

This is an abbreviation for concept model attribute.

A characteristic of the meaning of a concept or the nature of a refinement.

• An attribute is assigned a value (attribute value pair) when used in the definition of a concept or in a postcoordinated expression.

• The attributes that can be used in definitions or refinements are represented by a concepts that are subtypes of the concept

active relationship

A relationship that is intended for use.

Notes

• Release files contain active and inactive relationships to provide a historical record of the terminology at different points in time.

• A relationship is active when the most recent row with the relevant relationship.id in the full release file has the value relationship.active =1 (one). The most recent row for a relationship is determined based on the relationship.effectiveTime value.

author

This is an abbreviation for SNOMED CT author.

SNOMED CT author

A person responsible for creating or editing SNOMED CT concepts, concept definitions, and descriptions.

Alternatives

• Author

• Editor

• Modeler

• SNOMED CT editor

• SNOMED CT modeler

alpha release

This is an abbreviation for alpha release package.

alpha release package

A SNOMED CT release package made available only for initial review and testing by implementers and other stakeholders.

Notes

• An alpha release package must not be used in production clinical systems or in clinical settings. This includes Affiliate Licensees or any third parties, except those who have formally committed to test it.

• An alpha release is used to test the format and content of the SNOMED CT release. Feedback is elicited and changes are made prior to publication of the beta release.

• Alpha releases were formerly known as a technology preview releases.

• Alpha package

• Alpha release

ancestor

This is an abbreviation for supertype ancestor.

supertype ancestor

A concept that is a supertype of a specified concept.

Notes

• A supertype ancestor Includes the supertype parents and the supertype parents of each supertype parent, until the root concept is reached.

• The term supertype is synonymous with supertype ancestor. However, it is sometime helpful to use the term supertype ancestor to emphasize inclusion of all supertypes not just supertype parents.

• The figure below shows an example hierarchy in which concept S has seven supertype ancestors A, B, D, E, I, J and K.

• Ancestor

API

This is an abbreviation for Application Programming Interface.

Application Programming Interface

A set of rules and specifications that enable communication between software programs.

Notes

• The way an application programming interface operates is similar to a user interface, which facilitates interaction between humans and computers.

Alternatives

• API

Related Links

• Wikipedia

This is a synonym for description logic classification.

A process that generates a set of logically consistent inferences by applying description logic rules to the stated view of concept definitions.

• Automatic classification

Affiliate Edition

This is an abbreviation for SNOMED CT Affiliate Edition

SNOMED CT Affiliate Edition

A set of SNOMED CT components and reference set members that either belong to a focus module identified by an Affiliate Licensee with an allocated extension namespace identifier, or belong to one of the modules on which that module depends.

Notes

• The focus module is part of the extension for which that Affiliate is responsible.

• An Affiliate Edition may extend the SNOMED CT International Edition or a National Edition.

axiom

A true statement that serves as a premise or starting point for further reasoning.

Notes

• The axioms that specify SNOMED CT concept definition release files as SNOMED CT relationships or as OWL axioms that conform to the OWL Functional Syntax.

Change Notices

• Since July 2019 all axioms in the stated view of concept definitions have been represented as OWL axioms. Before July 2018, the stated view was represented using relationships and during a transitional period ending in July 2019 some axioms in stated view were represented using the OWL functional syntax.

• The inferred view __ of concept definitions continues to be represented using relationships.

• OWL axiom

active

This is an abbreviation for active component.

active component

A SNOMED CT component that is intended for use.

Notes

• Release files contain active and inactive components to provide a historical record of the terminology at different points in time.

• A component is active when the most recent row with the relevant component.id in the full release file has the value component.active =1 (one). The most recent row for a component is determined based on the component.effectiveTime value.

An organization or individual that has been issued a license to use SNOMED CT by SNOMED International.

• Usage must be in accordance with the SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement.

• Affiliate

A constraint on the number of times that a specific attribute may be included in the same attribute group.

• Constraints on attribute in group cardinality apply only to non-redundant attributes. A redundant attribute is an attribute with a value that is subsumed by another attribute in the same group.

• Cardinality constraints are represented by square brackets containing a minimum value value represented as an integer, optionally followed by two dots and a maximum value represented as an integer or as an asterisk *****.

attribute relationship

A relationship between two concepts in which one concept specifies the value of a defining characteristic of the other concept.

Notes

• In the relationships file an attribute relationship is represented by three concept identifiers:

  • SourceId represents the concept defined by the attribute relationship.

  • TypeId represents the attribute, which has a value that is a subtype of .

  • DestinationId represents the value applied to that attribute.

• Concepts are defined by a combination of attribute relationships and subtype relationships.

• The table below shows an example of three attribute relationships as it appears in the three significant columns of the relationships file:

Affiliate

This is an abbreviation for Affiliate Licensee.

Affiliate Licensee

An organization or individual that has been issued a license to use SNOMED CT by SNOMED International.

Notes

• Usage must be in accordance with the SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement.

Alternatives

• Affiliate

• IHTSDO Affiliate

• SNOMED International Affiliate**

attribute in group cardinality

The number of times that a specific attribute is included in the same attribute group.

Notes

• This term may sometimes be used as an informal abbreviation for attribute in group cardinality constraint which is defined as follows:

  • A constraint on the number of times that a specific attribute may be included in the same attribute group.

• Attribute in group cardinality is not the same as attribute cardinality or attribute group cardinality.

• Cardinality in group

This is an abbreviation for American National Standards Institute.

A private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States.

• The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards.

• ANSI

A language used to define the formal syntax of another language in computer science.

• Augmented Backus-Naur Form is:

• ABNF

authoring

This is an abbreviation for SNOMED CT authoring.

SNOMED CT authoring

The process of creating or editing SNOMED CT concepts, concept definitions and descriptions.

Alternatives

• Authoring

• Modeling

• SNOMED CT modeling

A concept with a specific meaning defined by an authoritative source.

• National or international professional bodies or standards organizations are sources of authoritative concepts.

• Taxonomic groupings of organisms are only added to the SNOMED CT International Release where an appropriate authoritative source reference is provided (see Organism groupings)

ABNF

This is an abbreviation for Augmented Backus-Naur Form.

Augmented Backus-Naur Form

A language used to define the formal syntax of another language in computer science.

Notes

• Augmented Backus-Naur Form is:

* used to define syntax for Internet specifications.

* defined by Internet Standard 68, RFC 5234.

Alternatives

• ABNF

Related Links

• Internet Engineering Task Force

• Wikipedia

annotation

Is additional information that can be associated to SNOMED CT components and reference set members.

Notes

• This extra information may be of value when evaluating a particular change to a SNOMED component or aid in implementation of SNOMED CT.

• Annotations are non-defining, so they do not have any impact on the classification of SNOMED CT concepts.

• Annotations are not mandatory for all components or reference set members; they can be used as needed for a particular use case.

• SNOMED CT annotations

Affiliate License Agreement

The agreement between an Affiliate Licensee and SNOMED International.

Notes

• The agreement allows developers and implementers to use the SNOMED CT International Release and distribute the terminology to their sub-licensees as part of a software system.

Alternatives

• Affiliate License

• SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement

alpha package

This is an abbreviation for alpha release package.

alpha release package

A SNOMED CT release package made available only for initial review and testing by implementers and other stakeholders.

Notes

• An alpha release package must not be used in production clinical systems or in clinical settings. This includes Affiliate Licensees or any third parties, except those who have formally committed to test it.

• An alpha release is used to test the format and content of the SNOMED CT release. Feedback is elicited and changes are made prior to publication of the beta release.

• Alpha releases were formerly known as a technology preview releases.

• Alpha package

• Alpha release

active concept

A concept that is intended for use.

Notes

• Release files contain active and inactive concepts to provide a historical record of the terminology at different points in time.

• A concept is active when the most recent row with the relevant concept.id in the full release file has the value concept.active =1 (one). The most recent row for a concept is determined based on the concept.effectiveTime value.

A SNOMED CT release package made available only for initial review and testing by implementers and other stakeholders.

• An alpha release package must not be used in production clinical systems or in clinical settings. This includes Affiliate Licensees or any third parties, except those who have formally committed to test it.

• An alpha release is used to test the format and content of the SNOMED CT release. Feedback is elicited and changes are made prior to publication of the beta release.

attribute cardinality constraint

A constraint on the number of times that a specific attribute may be included in the same concept definition or expression.

Notes

• Constraints on attribute cardinality apply only to non-redundant attributes. A redundant attribute is an attribute with a value that is subsumed by another attribute in the same concept definition or expression.

• Cardinality constraints are represented by square brackets containing a minimum value value represented as an integer, optionally followed by two dots and a maximum value represented as an integer or as an asterisk *****.

  • If the maximum is omitted then the maximum cardinality is the same as the minimum cardinality.

  • If the maximum is an asterisk ***** the maximum cardinality is unlimited.

• The following expression constraint is satisfied by any clinical finding whose definition has two or more non-redundant finding sites, irrespective of the attribute group in which they are contained.

< : [2..*] = <

American National Standards Institute

A private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States.

Notes

• The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards.

Alternatives

• ANSI

Related Links

application programming interface

A set of rules and specifications that enable communication between software programs.

Notes

• The way an application programming interface operates is similar to a user interface, which facilitates interaction between humans and computers.

Alternatives

• API

Related Links

• Wikipedia

A constraint on the number of times that an attribute group may be included in the same concept definition or expression.

• Cardinality constraints are represented by square brackets containing a minimum value value represented as an integer, optionally followed by two dots and a maximum value represented as an integer or as an asterisk *****.

  • If the maximum is omitted then the maximum cardinality is the same as the minimum cardinality.

active component

A SNOMED CT component that is intended for use.

Notes

• Release files contain active and inactive components to provide a historical record of the terminology at different points in time.

• A component is active when the most recent row with the relevant component.id in the full release file has the value component.active =1 (one). The most recent row for a component is determined based on the component.effectiveTime value.

A concept that represents the target of a relationship or the value of an expression refinement in a postcoordinated expression.

Notes

• An attribute value applied to an attribute name is referred to as an attribute value pair.

• An attribute value pair can represent a defining characteristic of a concept or an expression refinement.

• In the Relationship file , the attribute name is represented by the Relationship.typeId and the attribute value by the Relationship.destinationId.

attribute value pair

A combination of an attribute name and an attribute value used to specify a defining characteristic of a concept.

Notes

• The attribute name __ identifies the type of information and the attribute value __ provides a value _. _

• An attribute value pair can represent a defining characteristic of a concept or an expression refinement.

• In the relationship file , the attribute name is represented by the relationship.typeId and the attribute value by the relationship.destinationId.

attribute name

The concept that represents the attribute type in a defining relationship or postcoordinated expression.

Notes

• An attribute name with an attribute value is referred to as an attribute value pair.

• An attribute value pair can represent a defining characteristic of a concept or an expression refinement.

• In the relationship file , the attribute name is represented by the relationship.typeId and the attribute value by the relationship.destinationId._ _

• Theconcepts that can be used to name attributes are:

1. • subtypes of

• Relationship type

active description

A description that is intended for use.

Notes

• Release files contain active and inactive descriptions to provide a historical record of the terminology at different points in time.

• A description is active when the most recent row with the relevant description.id in the full release file has the value description.active =1 (one). The most recent row for a description is determined based on the description.effectiveTime value.