Quantitative visual system for comparing parameters which characterize

Abstract

A system for comparing two complex entities, particularly appropriate for assisting in matching recipients with potential organ transplant donors or prostheses, utilizes a set of data corresponding to multiple diverse parameters representing a first complex entity, graphically represented on a helical structure having a discrete primary zone for each parameter and a series of secondary zones within each primary zone to establish scale means for quantitative representation of the data. The data is represented in a visual manner by means of shading in the secondary zones, with the shading increasing in hue and density with increasing distance of the secondary zones from the longitudinal axis of the helical structure, and terminating at a quantitative value for each parameter. Other sets of data corresponding to other complex entities are similarly represented on additional helical structures, and the helixes, or sections thereof, are superimposed on one another to determine the suitability of a match, with differences in values for each parameter being readily visible to an observer by looking at the differences in termination of the shaded regions.