DT-Planner: an environment for managing dynamic decision problems

Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 1997 Nov;54(3):183-200. doi: 10.1016/s0169-2607(97)00044-8.

Abstract

The problem of formulating plans under uncertainty and coping with dynamic decision problems is a major task of both artificial intelligence and control theory applications in medicine. In this paper we will describe a software package, called DT-Planner, designed to represent and solve dynamic decision problems that can be modelled as Markov decision processes, by exploiting a novel graphical formalism, called influence view. An influence view is a directed acyclic graph that depicts the probabilistic relationships between the problem state variables in a generic time transition; additional variables, called event variables, may be added, in order to describe the conditional independencies between state variables. By using the specified conditional independence structure, an influence view may allow a parsimonious specification of a Markov decision process. DT-Planner lets the user specify and manage models through a user-friendly graphical interface, and implements efficient for policy determination algorithms. DT-Planner is written in C with Open Interface libraries and can be obtained, for non commercial use, via anonymous ftp without charge.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Bone Marrow Transplantation / adverse effects
  • Computer Graphics
  • Computers
  • Cyclosporine / administration & dosage
  • Decision Making, Computer-Assisted*
  • Graft vs Host Disease / etiology
  • Graft vs Host Disease / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / administration & dosage
  • Markov Chains
  • Software*
  • Therapy, Computer-Assisted

Substances

  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • Cyclosporine