SIST EN ISO 16278:2016

Health informatics - Categorial structure for terminologies systems of human anatomy (ISO 16278:2016)

The proposed work item will aim to develop an International Standard to define the characteristics of a categorial structure
for human anatomy to be used by the healthcare terminological systems with the minimal domain constraints they shall be
conformant with for binding these terminologies to the information model of EHR,in order to support the exchange of
meaningful information between different EHR using different healthcare terminological systems using human anatomy and
different national languages.
Categorial Structures supports interoperability by providing common frameworks with which to
a) develop terminological systems that are able to be related to each other and
b) to analyse the properties of different terminological systems to establish the relationship between them.
This standard is applicable to:
— organisations involved with the development or maintenance of terminological systems as defined in ISO 17115 2007
and based on human anatomy namely for multipurpose coding systems on a national or international level
— organisations developing and maintaining software tools allowing natural clinical language expressions analysis,
generation and mapping to the main existing healthcare terminological systems.
The European standard EN 15521 2007 will be used as a starting document in relation with his revision within CEN TC 251
.It is intended for use as an integrated part of computer applications and for the electronic healthcare record.The standard
itself is not suitable for or intended for use by, the individual clinician or hospital administrator.

Medizinische Informatik - Kategoriale Struktur für Terminologien der Anatomie des Menschen (ISO 16278:2016)

Diese Internationale Norm legt die erforderlichen Merkmale für die synthetische Beschreibung von Aufbau und Inhalt der Anatomie des Menschen innerhalb eines terminologischen Systems fest. Sie ist vorrangig für die Verwendung innerhalb computergestützter Anwendungen, wie z. B. klinische elektronische Gesundheitsakten, Entscheidungsunterstützung sowie für verschiedene biomedizinische Forschungszwecke vorgesehen.
Diese Internationale Norm dient folgenden Zwecken:
— vereinfachter Aufbau neuer terminologischer Systeme in geregelter Form zur Erhöhung ihrer Kohärenz und Ausdruckskraft;
— vereinfachte Pflege der Anatomie des Menschen innerhalb von terminologischen Systemen;
— erhöhte Konsistenz und Kohärenz vorhandener terminologischer Systeme;
— Ermöglichung systematischer Querverweise zwischen Elementen der Anatomie des Menschen in unterschiedlichen Typen von terminologischen Systemen;
— vereinfachte Konvergenz der Anatomie des Menschen innerhalb von terminologischen Systemen;
— Verdeutlichung der im Bereich der Anatomie des Menschen bestehenden Überlappungen mit unterschiedlichen terminologischen Systemen verschiedener Gesundheitsfachgebiete;
— Bereitstellung von Verhandlungsgrundlagen für die jeweiligen Entwickler in Hinblick auf die Integration verschiedener terminologischer Systeme in Informationssysteme;
— Ermöglichung der systematischen Bewertung der Anatomie des Menschen innerhalb von terminologischen Systemen.

Informatique de santé - Structure catégorielle des terminologies d'anatomie humaine (ISO 16278:2016)

ISO 16278:2016 définit les caractéristiques requises pour décrire de façon synthétique l'organisation et le contenu de l'anatomie humaine au sein d'un système terminologique. Elle est principalement prévue pour être utilisée avec des applications informatiques, telles que les dossiers informatisés de santé cliniques, l'aide à la décision et les différents objectifs de la recherche biomédicale.
ISO 16278:2016 servira à
-      faciliter l'élaboration de nouveaux systèmes terminologiques avec une régularité qui augmentera leur cohérence et leur expressivité,
-      faciliter la maintenance de l'anatomie humaine au sein des systèmes terminologiques,
-      augmenter l'homogénéité et la cohérence des systèmes terminologiques existants,
-      permettre de systématiser les références croisées entre les éléments d'anatomie humaine des différents types de systèmes terminologiques,
-      faciliter la convergence de l'anatomie humaine au sein des systèmes terminologiques,
-      expliciter le chevauchement de l'anatomie humaine entre les systèmes terminologiques des différents domaines de la santé,
-      fournir des éléments de négociation sur l'intégration de différents systèmes terminologiques dans des systèmes d'information aux développeurs respectifs, et
-      permettre de systématiser l'évaluation de l'anatomie humaine au sein des systèmes terminologiques.
ISO 16278:2016 en elle-même n'est pas adaptée, ni destinée à être utilisée individuellement par des cliniciens ou des administrateurs d'hôpitaux.
Les groupes cible de la présente Norme internationale sont:
-      les créateurs des structures catégorielles des terminologies de santé spécialisées et normalisées;
-      les développeurs de systèmes terminologiques de santé, y compris les classifications et les systèmes de codage;
-      les prestataires de services pour les systèmes terminologiques et les créateurs de logiciels incluant les applications travaillant sur le langage naturel;
-      les créateurs de modèles d'informations, les ingénieurs cogniticiens et les développeurs de normes qui construisent des modèles pour les systèmes de gestion des informations de santé;
-      les développeurs des systèmes d'information qui nécessitent une représentation explicite des systèmes terminologiques de santé;
-      les développeurs de normes de balisage pour la représentation des documents de santé.
ISO 16278:2016 n'aborde pas la structure catégorielle pouvant être nécessaire à la description de l'anatomie du développement au cours du cycle de vie de l'homme, comprenant le développement prénatal, la croissance postnatale et le vieillissement.
ISO 16278:2016 a été élaborée pour être utilisée en tant que partie intégrante des applications informatisées et pour le dossier informatisé de santé. Elle n'aurait que peu d'intérêt pour une utilisation manuelle.
L'objectif de la présente Norme internationale n'est pas de normaliser la classification de la terminologie de l'anatomie humaine de l'utilisateur final, ni d'entrer en conflit avec les systèmes de concepts inhérents à la pratique et aux langues nationales.

Zdravstvena informatika - Kategorijska struktura za terminologijo človeške anatomije (ISO 16278:2016)

Namen predlagane delovne postavke je razviti mednarodni standard za določanje lastnosti kategorijske strukture za človeško anatomijo, ki se bo uporabljal v terminoloških sistemih na področju zdravstva, z minimalnimi domenskimi omejitvami, s katerimi morajo biti skladne, za povezavo teh terminologij z informacijskim modelom EHR z namenom podpore izmenjave pomembnih informacij med različnimi elektronskimi zdravstvenimi zapisi (EHR), ki uporabljajo različne zdravstvene terminološke sisteme s človeško anatomijo in z različnimi nacionalnimi jeziki. Kategorijske strukture podpirajo medoperabilnost, tako da zagotavljajo splošne okvirje za a) razvoj terminoloških sistemov, ki se lahko med seboj povežejo, ter za b) analizo lastnosti različnih terminoloških sistemov, da se vzpostavi razmerje med njimi. Ta standard se uporablja za: – organizacije, ki se ukvarjajo z razvojem ali vzdrževanjem terminoloških sistemov, kot je določeno v standardu ISO 17115 2007 ter na podlagi človeške anatomije, in sicer za večnamenske kodirne sisteme na nacionalni ali mednarodni ravni; – organizacije, ki razvijajo in vzdržujejo orodja programske opreme, ki omogočajo analizo izrazov v naravnem kliničnem jeziku ter generiranje in preslikavo v glavne obstoječe zdravstvene terminološke sisteme. Evropski standard EN 15521 2007 se bo uporabljal kot izhodiščni dokument v povezavi z lastno revizijo v okviru CEN TC 251. Namenjen je za uporabo kot integriran del računalniških aplikacij in za elektronski zdravstveni zapis. Standard ni primeren oziroma namenjen za uporabo s strani posameznih zdravnikov ali upravnikov bolnišnic.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Public Enquiry End Date: 29-Apr-2014
• Publication Date: 18-May-2016
• ICS: 01.020 - Terminology (principles and coordination)
• ICS: 35.240.80 - IT applications in health care technology
• Technical Committee: ITC - Information technology
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 01-Apr-2016
• Due Date: 06-Jun-2016
• Completion Date: 19-May-2016
• Ref Project: EN ISO 16278:2016 - Health informatics - Categorial structure for terminological systems of human anatomy (ISO 16278:2016)

Relations

• Replaces: SIST EN 15521:2008 - Health informatics - Categorical structure for terminologies of human anatomy
• Effective Date: 30-Mar-2016
• Replaces: SIST EN 15521:2008 - Health informatics - Categorical structure for terminologies of human anatomy
• Effective Date: 08-Jun-2022

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
01-julij-2016
1DGRPHãþD
SIST EN 15521:2008
=GUDYVWYHQDLQIRUPDWLND.DWHJRULMVNDVWUXNWXUD]DWHUPLQRORJLMRþORYHãNH
DQDWRPLMH,62
Health informatics - Categorial structure for terminologies systems of human anatomy
(ISO 16278:2016)
Medizinische Informatik - Kategoriale Struktur für Terminologien der Anatomie des
Menschen (ISO 16278:2016)
Informatique de santé - Structure catégorielle des terminologies d'anatomie humaine
(ISO 16278:2016)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO 16278:2016
ICS:
01.020 7HUPLQRORJLMDQDþHODLQ Terminology (principles and
NRRUGLQDFLMD coordination)
35.240.80 Uporabniške rešitve IT v IT applications in health care
zdravstveni tehniki technology
SIST EN ISO 16278:2016 en,fr
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016


EN ISO 16278
EUROPEAN STANDARD

NORME EUROPÉENNE

March 2016
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 35.240.80 Supersedes EN 15521:2007
English Version

Health informatics - Categorial structure for terminological
systems of human anatomy (ISO 16278:2016)
Informatique de santé - Structure catégorielle des Medizinische Informatik - Kategoriale Struktur für
systèmes terminologiques de l'anatomie humaine (ISO terminologische Systeme der Anatomie des Menschen
16278:2016) (ISO 16278:2016)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 15 January 2016.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.





EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2016 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 16278:2016 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
EN ISO 16278:2016 (E)
Contents Page
European foreword . 3

2

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
EN ISO 16278:2016 (E)
European foreword
This document (EN ISO 16278:2016) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 215 "Health
informatics" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 251 “Health informatics” the
secretariat of which is held by NEN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by September 2016, and conflicting national standards
shall be withdrawn at the latest by September 2016.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights.
This document supersedes EN 15521:2007.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO 16278:2016 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 16278:2016 without any modification.
3

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 16278
First edition
2016-03-01
Health informatics — Categorial
structure for terminological systems
of human anatomy
Informatique de santé — Structure catégorielle des systèmes
terminologiques de l’anatomie humaine
Reference number
ISO 16278:2016(E)
©
ISO 2016

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO 2016, Published in Switzerland
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior
written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of
the requester.
ISO copyright office
Ch. de Blandonnet 8 • CP 401
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.iso.org
ii © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Terms and definitions . 2
3 Categorial structure for terminologies of human anatomy description .3
3.1 Principles . 3
3.2 Anatomical categories (2.7) . 4
3.3 Precise goal of the categorial structure (2.10) . 6
3.4 List of anatomical relations (2.8) . 7
3.5 List of minimal anatomical domain constraints (2.9) . 9
4 Conformance . 9
Annex A (informative) A reference ontology for biomedical informatics: the Foundational
Model of Anatomy .10
Bibliography .16
© ISO 2016 – All rights reserved iii

---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(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).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 215, Health informatics.
iv © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

Introduction
This International Standard specifies a categorial structure for terminologies of human anatomy.
Computer-based processing and the interchange of medical or clinical information requires various
kinds of terminological systems to represent that information, such as controlled vocabularies,
classifications, nomenclatures, terminologies and thesauri, with or without coding schemes.
The specific terminological issues in the field of health informatics are the following:
— large number of different terminological systems are available in different clinical specialties;
— large overlap among the subject fields involved;
— large number of codes and rubrics, typically in the order of magnitude of 10 000 to 100 000 entries,
in commonly used terminological systems;
— increasing need for re-use of coded data in different health-care contexts;
— polysemy across different clinical specialties and sometimes within them.
The integration of computer-based medical records and administrative information systems in
Electronic Health Records (EHR) require rationalization in the field, and a uniform way to represent
the meaning of medical concepts to ensure that the receiver EHR of a message will catch the meaning
introduced by the sender EHR and not only the string of characters embedded in it.
It is not possible to impose a rigid, uniform, standardized, natural language clinical terminology
on healthcare professional providers. Nevertheless, standards need to be provided for guiding
the development of terminologies in the different sub domains of healthcare to allow semantic
interoperability between them. To this end, a domain specific semantic representation has been
developed (EN 12264) and applied in a series of specific initiatives, including European Pre standards
(ENV), European Standards (EN) and International Standards (ISO) on various subject fields to
describe a set of categorial structures in partially overlapping subject fields. Human anatomy is
central to medical terminology (surgical procedures, carcinoma staging, annotation of radiological
findings, disease, clinical laboratory and so forth) and also to many scientific and bio-informatics study
beyond the scope of clinical medicine. In the US, the University of Washington has developed in the
public domain an anatomical terminology for EHR named the Digital Anatomist Foundational Model of
Anatomy (FMA for short), a reference ontology for biomedical informatics.
International Standardization efforts by CEN and ISO related to Electronic Health Records and semantic
interoperability have resulted in a number of categorial structures which are a step towards supporting
healthcare terminological systems with a full concept system or ontology that in turn will support
multipurpose uses and safe communication. In the present categorial structure standard, several of the
definitions of basic terms related to categorial structures have been updated to comply with the most
recent version of ISO 17115.
Adequate field testing in several countries, revision and integration have provided the comprehensive
basis for this International Standard.
© ISO 2016 – All rights reserved v

---------------------- Page: 11 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016

---------------------- Page: 12 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 16278:2016(E)
Health informatics — Categorial structure for
terminological systems of human anatomy
1 Scope
This International Standard defines the characteristics required to synthetically describe the
organization and content of human anatomy within a terminological system. It is intended primarily for
use with computer-based applications such as clinical electronic health records, decision support and
for various bio-medical research purposes.
This International Standard will serve to
— facilitate the construction of new terminological systems in a regular form which will increase their
coherence and expressiveness,
— facilitate maintenance of human anatomy within terminological systems,
— increase consistency and coherence of existing terminological system,
— allow systematic cross-references between items of human anatomy in different types of
terminological systems,
— facilitate convergence among human anatomy within terminological systems,
— make explicit the overlap for human anatomy between different health care domains terminological
systems,
— provide elements for negotiation about integration of different terminological systems into
information systems between the respective developers, and
— enable the systematic evaluation of human anatomy within terminological systems.
The International Standard itself is not suitable or intended for use by, individual clinicians or hospital
administrators.
The target groups for this International Standard are the following:
— designers of specialized standard healthcare terminological categorial structures;
— developers of healthcare terminological systems including classifications and coding systems;
— producers of services for terminological systems and designers of software including natural
language processing;
— information modellers, knowledge engineers, and standards developers building models for health
information management systems;
— developers of information systems that require an explicit representation of healthcare
terminological systems;
— developers of marked-up standards for representation of healthcare documents.
This International Standard does not include categorial structure that might be necessary for
the description of developmental anatomy during the human life cycle, which includes prenatal
development, post-natal growth and aging.
This International Standard has been developed for use as an integrated part of computer-based
applications and for the electronic healthcare record. It would be of limited value for manual use.
© ISO 2016 – All rights reserved 1

---------------------- Page: 13 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

It is not the purpose of this International Standard to standardize the end user classification of human
anatomy terminology or to conflict with the concept systems embedded in national practice and
languages.
2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
2.1
human anatomy
biological science that concerns the discovery, analysis and representation of the structural organization
of the human body
Note 1 to entry: Human anatomy thus defined encompasses the material objects from the granularity level of the
whole human body to that of cell parts, portions of body substances, and non-material entities such as surfaces,
spaces, lines and points, that form the phenotypic organization of the human body. Although encompassed by
the definition of anatomical structure (3.2.9), biological macromolecules do not come under the purview of the
science human anatomy.
2.2
anatomical entity
entity that constitutes the structural organization of a particular human body
2.3
spatial dimension
number of dimensions of the entity in space
EXAMPLE 1 Entities with spatial dimension of value 3 are organs, cells and body cavity.
EXAMPLE 2 Entities with spatial dimension of value 2: the plane of the esophagogastric junction and the
surface of the parietal part of the head.
EXAMPLE 3 Entities with spatial dimension of value 1: pectinate line, linea aspera and superior nuchal line.
EXAMPLE 4 Entities with spatial dimension of value 0: the pointed extremity of petrous part of temporal
bone, pointed extremity of the orbit and the pointed extremity of the sacrum.
2.4
three-dimensional shape
shape of an anatomical entity of spatial dimension with value 3
EXAMPLE Hollow cylinder.
2.5
terminology
set of designations belonging to one special language
[SOURCE: ISO 1087-1:2000]
2.6
anatomical term
verbal designation of an anatomical entity (2.2)
2.7
anatomical category
type of anatomical entity shared by all the individual instances in existence in the present, past and future
EXAMPLE The anatomical category liver is instantiated by this liver and all individual livers in existence in
the present, past and future.
Note 1 to entry: Anatomical categories may be more or less general. Where one anatomical category is subsumed
by another, the is_a relation is asserted to obtain between the more specific or subsumed category and the more
general or subsuming anatomical category.
2 © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 14 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

Note 2 to entry: Each anatomical entity instantiates some anatomical category.
2.8
anatomical relation
relation between two or more anatomical categories derived from corresponding relations between
instances of the respective categories
EXAMPLE 1 A is_a B defined to obtain when every entity in category A is at the same time an entity in category B.
EXAMPLE 2 B has_part A defined to obtain when every entity in category B has some entity in category A
as part.
Note 1 to entry: Other examples of anatomical relations manifesting this every-some structure are: contained_in
adjacent_to, and attached_to.
Note 2 to entry: The definition is adapted from the representation of types of characteristics in EN 12264 and
authorised by an anatomical domain constraint (2.9).
2.9
anatomical domain constraint
rule prescribing the set of representations of anatomical relations (2.8) that are valid to specialize an
anatomical category (2.5) in a certain domain
Note 1 to entry: The definition is adapted from domain constraint in EN 12264.
2.10
anatomical categorial structure
minimal set of anatomical domain constraints (2.9) for representing anatomical entities (2.2) in a precise
domain to achieve a precise goal
Note 1 to entry: The definition is adapted from the categorial structure in EN 12264.
3 Categorial structure for terminologies of human anatomy description
3.1 Principles
The categorial structures for terminologies of human anatomy are in conformity with the categorial
structure as prescribed by EN 12264:2005, Clause 4.
To describe an anatomical categorial structure (2.10), the following information shall be provided:
a) anatomical categories (2.7) that organize the anatomical entities (2.2) and the anatomical relations
(2.8)dividing their representation in the domain;
b) precise goal of the anatomical categorial structure (2.10);
c) list of the representations of anatomical relations (2.8) authorized by anatomical domain
constraints (2.9);
d) list of minimal anatomical domain constraints (2.9) required by the goal of the anatomical
categorial structure (2.10).
© ISO 2016 – All rights reserved 3

---------------------- Page: 15 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

3.2 Anatomical categories (2.7)
3.2.1
physical anatomical entity
anatomical entity that has a spatial dimension (2.3)
EXAMPLE Organ, surface, apex of the orbit.
3.2.2
immaterial physical anatomical entity
physical anatomical entity that has no mass
EXAMPLE Anatomical space, anatomical surface (diaphragmatic surface of left ventricle).
3.2.3
anatomical space
immaterial physical anatomical entity which has a spatial dimension (2.3) of value 3
EXAMPLE Thoracic cavity.
3.2.4
anatomical surface
immaterial physical anatomical entity which has a spatial dimension (2.3) of value 2
EXAMPLE Diaphragmatic surface of heart.
3.2.5
anatomical line
immaterial physical anatomical entity which has a spatial dimension (2.3) of value 1
EXAMPLE Inferior margin of liver.
3.2.6
anatomical point
immaterial physical anatomical entity which has a spatial dimension (2.3) of value 0
EXAMPLE Apex of this heart.
3.2.7
material physical anatomical entity
physical anatomical entity that has a mass
EXAMPLE Liver, cell nucleus, portion of blood.
3.2.8
body substance
material physical anatomical entity that has no inherent shape (2.4)
EXAMPLE Portion of blood, portion of cytosol.
3.2.9
anatomical structure
material physical anatomical entity that has an inherent shape (2.4) and is generated by a coordinated expression
of the organism’s own structural genes
EXAMPLE Thorax, tibia, hepatocyte.
Note 1 to entry: Post-surgical anatomy (e.g surgically created stomas, stumps, vascular and intestinal anasto-
moses) is not an anatomical structure. When used, it shall be defined in the categorical structure needing it, e.g.
for surgical procedures.
4 © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 16 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

3.2.10
cell
anatomical structure that consists of cytoplasm surrounded by a plasma membrane
EXAMPLE Leukocyte, hepatocyte.
3.2.11
organ
anatomical structure that consists of a maximal collection of cardinal organ parts so connected to one another
that together they constitute a self-contained unit of macroscopic anatomy, morphologically distinct from other
such units
EXAMPLE Heart, tibia, urinary bladder.
3.2.12
cardinal organ part
anatomical structure that consists of two or more portions of tissue, spatially related to one another in
patterns determined by coordinated gene expression, together with other contiguous cardinal organ parts it
constitutes an organ
EXAMPLE Upper lobe of right lung, shaft of humerus, left ventricle, head of pancreas.
3.2.13
portion of tissue
anatomical structure that consists of a directly connected collection of similarly specialized cells and intercel-
lular matrix, aggregated according to genetically determined spatial relationships
EXAMPLE Portion of smooth muscle, portion of endothelium.
3.2.14
cardinal body part
anatomical structure that has, as its parts, the most complete set of diverse subclasses of organ and cardinal organ
parts spatially associated with either the skull, a segment of the vertebral column or a complete set of bones of the
appendicular skeleton, it is partially surrounded by skin and forms a distinct morphological subdivision of the body
EXAMPLE Head, neck, trunk, upper limb.
Note 1 to entry: Together, all cardinal body parts constitute the body.
3.2.15
body region
sub volume of a cardinal body part (3.2.14) demarcated by at least one fiat boundary
EXAMPLE Epigastrium, femoral triangle.
3.2.16
organ systems
anatomical structure that consists of organs predominantly of the same anatomical category, which are inter-
connected by zones of continuity
EXAMPLE Alimentary system, musculoskeletal system.
Note 1 to entry: Each musculo-skeletal system is comprised of instances of the classes muscle (organ), bone (organ),
joint and ligament (organ), which together form an interconnected anatomical structure.
Note 2 to entry: Subdivisions of a musculoskeletal system are its skeletal system and articular system, which
consist of collections of bones and joints, respectively, the joints interconnecting the bones and vice versa.
Note 3 to entry: Several of the commonly known systems of the body satisfy this criterion but the endocrine and
immune systems do not. Therefore, they are body systems but not organ systems. The rationale for subdividing
the body into systems is usually claimed to be function. Organ systems have organs as their direct and connect-
ed parts. There are many other systems in the body that are not constituted by organs. Some are anatomical
structures, others are not.
© ISO 2016 – All rights reserved 5

---------------------- Page: 17 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

3.2.17
anatomical cluster
anatomical structure that consists of a heterogeneous collection of organ parts grouped together in a predeter-
mined manner, but which do not constitute the whole or a subdivision of either a body part or an organ system
EXAMPLE Joint, adnexa of the uterus, root of the lung, renal pedicle, back.
Note 1 to entry: Such clusters can be composed of cells (e.g., splenic cord consists of erythrocytes, reticular cells,
lymphocytes, monocytes, and plasma cells), cardinal organ parts (e.g., tendinous or rotator cuff consists of the
fused tendons of several muscles), as well as of organs (e.g., lacrimal apparatus consists of a lacrimal gland, lac-
rimal sac, and nasolacrimal duct, each of which is an organ).
3.2.18
anatomical set
material physical anatomical entity that consists of the maximum number of discontinuous members of the same class
EXAMPLE Set of cranial nerves, ventral branches of aorta, set of mammary arteries, thoracic viscera,
dental arcade.
Note 1 to entry: Anatomical sets have members, rather than parts (e.g., each instance of oculomotor nerve is a
member of some instance of set of cranial nerves).
Note 2 to entry: Membership in an anatomical set is often regarded as a kind of part relation. In anatomy, the
distinction between part and membership relations is that there is direct continuity of a part with its respective
whole, whereas no direct continuity exits exist between members of an anatomical set.
3.2.19
anatomical junction
anatomical structure in which two or more anatomical structures are in physical continuity with one another
or intermingle their component parts
EXAMPLE Suture, commissure of the mitral valve, gastroesophageal junction, synapse.
3.3 Precise goal of the categorial structure (2.10)
The goal of each anatomical terminology used in the terminological systems of healthcare and
biomedical science shall be defined by the users and indicates the situations and applications for which
the categorial structure is intended and the limits of use.
EXAMPLE Controlled vocabulary production for clinicians or comparison with another terminological
system for coding centres.
6 © ISO 2016 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 18 ----------------------

SIST EN ISO 16278:2016
ISO 16278:2016(E)

3.4 List of anatomical relations (2.8)
3.4.1
has_part
anatomical relation (2.8) which holds between an anatomical category A and an anatomical category B (with one
to three dimensions both) if and only if
—  each instance of A has some instance of B as a proper part and/or
—  proper part between two particular entities a and b means there is a complement c which together with b
accounts for the whole of a”.
EXAMPLE Stomach has_part fundus. Together with body and pyloric antrum fundus accounts for the whole
(100 %) of stomach.
3.4.2
A contained_in B
anatomical relation (2.8) that holds between each anatomical entity (2.2) in category A contained in some ana-
tomical entity in category B
EXAMPLE Urinary bladder contained_in pelvic cavity.
Note 1 to entry: The former is a body substance or an anatomical structure; the latter is an anatomical space.
Note 2 to entry: Contained_in does not imply part_of. Although cavity of urinary bladder is part_of urinary bladder,
urine part_of urinary bladde
...