[Focus. An expert system for the clinical diagnosis of the location of acute neurologic events].

Focus is an expert system developed to diagnose, by the findings on neurological examination, the anatomic location of an acute neurologic event. The inference engine uses a forward tracking algorithm and a rule based data base that includes associations of neurological signs with specific anatomic areas. Focus is linked to a data base in which all personal cases and final diagnoses confirmed by laboratory studies are stored. This makes it possible to assess the validity of the system's diagnoses and use personal cases as additional example to the revision of the rules. The program is easy to use and runs on MS-DOS microcomputer. Furthermore the diagnostic rules are accessible so Focus may furnish an interactive teaching device.