To say that Fuzzy Logic in Medicine, or FLM for short, is an important addi tion to the literature of fuzzy logic and its applications, is an understatement. Edited by two prominent informaticians, Professors S. Barro and R. Marin, it is one of the first books in its field. Between its covers, FLM presents authoritative expositions of a wide spectrum of medical and biological ap plications of fuzzy logic, ranging from image classification and diagnostics to anaesthesia control and risk assessment of heart diseases. As the editors note in the preface, recognition of the relevance of fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic to biological and medical systems has a long history. In this context, particularly worthy of note is the pioneering work of Profes sor Klaus Peter Adlassnig of the University of Vienna School of Medicine. However, it is only within the past decade that we began to see an accelerat ing growth in the visibility and importance of publications falling under the rubric of fuzzy logic in medicine and biology -a leading example of which is the Journal of the Biomedical Fuzzy Systems Association in Japan. Why did it take so long for this to happen? First, a bit of history.

To say that Fuzzy Logic in Medicine, or FLM for short, is an important addi tion to the literature of fuzzy logic and its applications, is an understatement. Edited by two prominent informaticians, Professors S. Barro and R. Marin, it is one of the first books in its field. Between its covers, FLM presents authoritative expositions of a wide spectrum of medical and biological ap plications of fuzzy logic, ranging from image classification and diagnostics to anaesthesia control and risk assessment of heart diseases. As the editors note in the preface, recognition of the relevance of fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic to biological and medical systems has a long history. In this context, particularly worthy of note is the pioneering work of Profes sor Klaus Peter Adlassnig of the University of Vienna School of Medicine. However, it is only within the past decade that we began to see an accelerat ing growth in the visibility and importance of publications falling under the rubric of fuzzy logic in medicine and biology -a leading example of which is the Journal of the Biomedical Fuzzy Systems Association in Japan. Why did it take so long for this to happen? First, a bit of history.

Fuzzy and Neuro-Fuzzy Systems in Medicineprovides a thorough review of state-of-the-art techniques and practices, defines and explains relevant problems, as well as provides solutions to these problems. After an introduction, the book progresses from one topic to another - with a linear development from fundamentals to applications.

Provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of fuzziness together with a compilation of recent advances in the application to medicine. The tutorials in the first part of the book range from basic concepts through theoretical frameworks to rule simplification through data clustering methodologies and the design of multivariate rule bases through self-learning by mapping fuzzy systems onto neural network structures. The case studies which follow are representative of the wide range of applications currently pursued in relation to medicine. The majority of applications presented in this book are about bridging the gap between low-level sensor measurements and intermediate or high-level data representations. The book offers a comprehensive perspective from leading authorities world-wide and provides a tantalising glimpse into the role of sophisticated knowledge engineering methods in shaping the landscape of medical technology in the future.

Fuzzy and Neuro-Fuzzy Systems in Medicineprovides a thorough review of state-of-the-art techniques and practices, defines and explains relevant problems, as well as provides solutions to these problems. After an introduction, the book progresses from one topic to another - with a linear development from fundamentals to applications. Chapters discuss: a historical perspective of fuzzy systems technology and neuro-fuzzy systems technology in medicine and biology the relationship of fuzzy logic to the human brain analysis and classification of signals using fuzzy, neuro-fuzzy, and wavelet methods wavelet analysis combined with neuro-fuzzy systems in contouring gated SPECT images of ventricles a detailed application based on a knowledge-based system that uses fuzzy techniques, multispectral analysis, and image processing algorithms applications in the field of dentistry a dedicated system for myocardial ischemia diagnosis a typical expert system used in intensive care units designing and tuning fuzzy rules for medical diagnosis knowledge processing, decision-making, and control strategies combined with control methods in medical equipment current technological problems and trends in the neural and fuzzy hardware implementation field The well-balanced chapters cover all the major fields in medicine and biomedical engineering, including imaging, prosthetics, psychology, medical equipment, diagnosis, and treatment.

Fuzzy Logic in Action: Applications in Epidemiology and Beyond, co-authored by Eduardo Massad, Neli Ortega, Laécio Barros, and Cláudio Struchiner is a remarkable achievement. The book brings a major paradigm shift to medical sciences exploring the use of fuzzy sets in epidemiology and medical diagnosis arena. The volume addresses the most significant topics in the broad areas of epidemiology, mathematical modeling and uncertainty, embodying them within the framework of fuzzy set and dynamic systems theory. Written by leading contributors to the area of epidemiology, medical informatics and mathematics, the book combines a very lucid and authoritative exposition of the fundamentals of fuzzy sets with an insightful use of the fundamentals in the area of epidemiology and diagnosis. The content is clearly illustrated by numerous illustrative examples and several real world applications. Based on their profound knowledge of epidemiology and mathematical modeling, and on their keen understanding of the role played by uncertainty and fuzzy sets, the authors provide insights into the connections between biological phenomena and dynamic systems as a mean to predict, diagnose, and prescribe actions. An example is the use of Bellman-Zadeh fuzzy decision making approach to develop a vaccination strategy to manage measles epidemics in São Paulo. The book offers a comprehensive, systematic, fully updated and self- contained treatise of fuzzy sets in epidemiology and diagnosis. Its content covers material of vital interest to students, researchers and practitioners and is suitable both as a textbook and as a reference. The authors present new results of their own in most of the chapters. In doing so, they reflect the trend to view fuzzy sets, probability theory and statistics as an association of complementary and synergetic modeling methodologies.

The purpose of this book is to present a wide variety of types of fuzzy mathematics used in medical research and in the modelling of diagnostic systems. Some techniques from fuzzy mathematics include fuzzy relation equations, group decision making, abstract algebra, clustering methods, belief functions, fuzzy measures, evidence theory, Sugero integrals, abduction, automata theory, genetic algebras, and hypergraphs. Applications to medicine include medical diagnosis, bone mineral density, stroke pathogenesis, clinical monitoring, and neuronal cell-assemblies. The five basic algorithms for data analysis (clustering based on fuzzy equivalence relations, fuzzy c-means algorithm, solving a system of fuzzy relational equations, calculating fuzzy measures, and calculating the combined basic probabilistic measure) are explained in the appendix. Some of these algorithms are translated into the programming language C++.