Using Level-Based Multiple Reasoning in a Web-Based Intelligent System for the Diagnosis of Farmed Fish Diseases

Abstract

Farmed fish disease diagnosis is an important problem in the fish farming industry, affecting quality of production and financial losses. In this paper, we present a web-based intelligent system that tackles the problem of fish disease diagnosis. To this end, it uses multiple knowledge representation and reasoning methods: rule-based, case-based, weight-based, and voting. Knowledge, which concerns the diagnosis of sea bass diseases, was acquired from experts in the field and represented in the form of decision trees. The diagnostic process is performed in two stages: a general one and a specialized one. In the general stage, a level-based diagnosis is performed, where environmental parameters, external signs, and internal signs are successively examined, and the three most probable diseases are identified. In the specialized stage, which is optional, a specialized expert system is used for each of the resulting diseases, where additional parameters concerning laboratory tests (microbiological, microscopic, molecular, and chemical) are considered. The general stage is the most useful, given that it can be performed on-site in real-time, whereas the specialized one requires time-consuming lab tests. The system also provides explanations for its decisions. Evaluation of the general-stage diagnostic process showed a top-3 accuracy of 78.79% on expert test cases and 94% on an artificial dataset.