The UMLS Ontology Module is a domain-specific extension of the Meta Mesh Ontology (MMO). It focuses on the semantic integration of biomedical terminologies, vocabularies, and ontologies in alignment with the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). The module is based on the Core Domain Framework (CDF) and fully aligns with the architectural and ontological principles of the MMO system.
This module provides ontologically grounded classes for the semantic mapping and integration of biomedical and clinical knowledge sources, including but not limited to:
- Concept alignment across terminologies
- Cross-ontology synonymy, equivalence, and semantic relationships
- Mapping between lexical concepts, entities, and reference classes
- Integration of biomedical vocabularies into a unified semantic framework
It supports interoperable semantic modeling across domains such as clinical informatics, biomedical research, data harmonization, and semantic interoperability, providing a bridge between heterogeneous coding systems and the unified knowledge structure of the MMO.
The module follows the architecture of the MMO:
MMO Core Classes -> Core Domain Framework (CDF) -> UMLS Module Classes
All classes in this module:
- Are subclasses of appropriate CDF superdomain entities
- Follow the MMO class definition format based on the Two-Part Definition Rule
- Are annotated with rich metadata
Currently, the module provides the foundational ontology structure and includes five initial data points as proof of concept. In future iterations, it will evolve toward a comprehensive integration of all relevant healing and recovery data points within the MMO framework.
The ontology is:
- Syntax-validated with RDF validation tools
- Published in RDF/XML (OWL) format
- Released under a permissive Creative Commons license
- Designed for FAIR compliance
If you use this ontology module in your work, please cite:
Meta Mesh Ontology – UMLS Module
Version 1.0.0 (2025-09-20)
MetaMeshOntology GitHub
https://github.com/MetaMeshOntology/UMLS-module
Contributions are welcome! Please open issues or submit pull requests via GitHub. All changes should conform to the naming conventions, definition rules, and modular structure of the MMO system.
To get involved or reach out to the maintainers, join our Slack Workspace.
You can directly join the UMLS discussion channel here: #UMLS-module.
Maintained by the Meta Mesh Ontology Team.
Shield:
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
