The Delfos Platform: A Conceptual Model-Based Solution for the Enhancement of Precision Medicine

Abstract

The use in the clinical practice of the vast amount of genomic data generated by current sequencing technologies constitutes a bottleneck for the progress of Precision Medicine (PM). Various problems inherent to the genomics domain (i.e., dispersion, heterogeneity, discrepancies, lack of standardization, and data quality issues) remain unsolved. In this paper, we present the Delfos platform, a conceptual model-based solution developed following a rigorous methodological and ontological background, whose main aim is to minimize the impact of these problems when transferring the research results to clinical practice. This paper presents the SILE method that provides methodological support for the Delfos platform, the Conceptual Schema of the Genome that provides a shared understanding of the domain, and the technological architecture behind the implementation of the platform. This paper also exemplifies the use of the Delfos platform through two use cases that involve the study of the DNA variants associated with the risk of developing Dilated Cardiomyopathies and Neuroblastoma.