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I'uKr 11 - PLAINDKALER-HKRALD. WEDNESDAY. Al'R II, 24. im> Nation/World Doctors now able to doublecheck diagnoses via computer ' ' • • By William Harwood UPI science writer GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A com­ puter scientist and a physician have joined forces to develop a pioneering system to save time and money by letting doctors doublecheck their diagnoses on in­ expensive personal computers. Unlike other more extensive diagnostic systems under develop­ ment that require costly "main frame" Computers, the system be­ ing designed at the University of Florida will run on IBM personal computers and compatible machines. Utilities Act to face a major overhaul in state By Kenda Burrows United Press International SPRINGFIELD - Rising utility costs and rising public outcry have prompted state officials to take an exceptionally close look at Illinois' 64-year-old Public Utilities Act while it is up for its first major overhaul. Restructuring of the Illinois Commerce Commission is a ma­ jor component of one reform plan introduced last week by a group of lawmakers and private citizens studying the 1921 law. A 13-member Joint Committee on Public Utility Regulation was charged with proposing a rewrite of the law under the state's Sunset Act, which requires all state laws and agencies to undergo periodic review. And consumer groups have add­ ed their voices to the chorus call­ ing on the Legislature to make major reforms. Utility costs have risen dramatically in recent years, ac­ cording to studies done by the utilities themselves, with about one dime of every $1 of the average family's income going to pay for gas, electric and telephones. The same studies show there's no relief in sight. France set to enter space with a budged shuttle # By Virginia Isbell United Press International PARIS -- France is designing a manned space shuttle expected to be about half the size of its American counterpart, but cheaper, more profitable and as reliable. Moreover, the shuttle called Hermes, which the French prefer to call space plane, is expected to give Europe access to the l u c r a t i v e e x t r a t e r r e s t r i a l markets of the future. Models of the $1.4 billion Hermes, which looks like a short- nosed fighter plane, will be in­ troduced to the public in May at the Paris Air Show. The two French companies competing to build Hermes will exhibit the lifesize mockups at the aerospace extravaganza in an effort to entice European investors and drum up public enthusiasm. Hermes is beginning life as a French project, since the 13 coun­ tries of the European Space Agen­ cy turned down a plan to par­ ticipate. ESA did agree to build the laun­ cher for Hermes -- the $1.8 billion Ariane 5 rocket that will carry the shuttle to space and release it in orbit. France took that decision as a green light for the shuttle and expects that the rest of Europe will join in the project later. "The French government is go­ ing alone on the start-up for Hermes -- just as it did for the Ariane rocket before that became a European Space Agency pro­ j e c t , " s a i d D a n i e l M e t z l e , spokeman for the National Space Research Center. A test flight is scheduled to take place by 1990 and by 1997, Hermes should be in operation. Hermes is expected to be able to carry between two and six astronauts along with 4.5 tons of equipment. The American shut­ tles can carry eight people and up to 32 tons of cargo. OPENING FRIDAY MAY 3,1985 THE JUNIOR CLOSET Located in the MCH^nry Trade Building 1402c Riverside Drive, McHenry FEATURING JUNIOR CLOTHING SIZES3-15 PLUS PETITES Doctors and hospitals could use the same computer to keep office records and patient information. "One of our aims was to try to develop a system that would be in­ expensive that individual physi­ cians would be able to afford," said Douglas Dankel, a University of Florida computer scientist who is working with Julian Russo, a St. Petersburg physician, to develop the system. Most medical database com­ puter systems are designed to mimic the process a doctor goes through to reach a diagnosis by analyzing all the available data. Using the Florida system, doctors would propose a diagnosis and then answer questions from the computer to confirm it. "What they've done has been an enormous effort to duplicate the doctor at work," Russo said. "We don't want to do thatlflre just want a verification system. "There is no fantastic new technology. It's the logic of it. It's very simple, 1 don't know why it's not been tried. " The prograir '«? ci to help keep costs down by suggesting the minimum number of .esLs re­ quired to confirm the diagnosis. I t m a y a l ? h e l p l i m i t skyrocketing hospital admissions to patients who truly need such care. Studies indicate a direct cor­ relation between admissions and the number of hospital beds and doctors available in a given area. "It's the services that create the admissions, in other words," Russo said. "If this thing works we can save for sure 50 percent of the admitting expenses." Russo believes the computer record of the diagnostic procedure would inhibit doctors from overus­ ing hospitals. At the end of February, Dankel sent a proposal to the National In­ stitutes of Health for a $250,000 grant to fully develop the soft­ ware, written in the Lisp pro­ gramming language, to include some 500 diseases and the in­ formation required to analyze them. As it stands t.ow, the experimen­ tal system is capable of handling liver disease, pulmonary edema and pulmonary embolism. The program was designed to be simple to operate, that is, "user friendly." A diagnosis can be con­ firmed in less than five minutes. I I I <3 8.1 n % % £ & % C A