The Foundational Model of Anatomy Ontology (FMA) is a reference
ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities ...
for the domain of
Human anatomy
The human body is the structure of a human being. It is composed of many different types of cells that together create tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the viability of the human body.
It comprises a head ...
.
It is a symbolic representation of the canonical, phenotypic structure of an
organism
In biology, an organism () is any life, living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy (biology), taxonomy into groups such as Multicellular o ...
; a spatial-structural ontology of anatomical entities and relations which form the physical organization of an organism at all salient levels of
granularity
Granularity (also called graininess), the condition of existing in granules or grains, refers to the extent to which a material or system is composed of distinguishable pieces. It can either refer to the extent to which a larger entity is su ...
.
FMA is developed and maintained by the Structural Informatics Group at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
.
Description
FMA ontology contains approximately 75,000 classes and over 120,000 terms, over 2.1 million relationship instances from over 168 relationship types.
About FMA – Contents
– The Foundational Model of Anatomy (retrieved 2012-11-06).
See also
* Terminologia Anatomica
* Anatomography
References
External links
The Foundational Model of Anatomy OntologyFMA Ontology Browser
{{Semantic Web
Bioinformatics
Ontology (information science)
Anatomical terminology