Find concepts by ID or term

Search by identifier

Now that SNOMED CT content is present in the code system (identified by the unique id SNOMEDCT) it is time to take a deeper dive. A frequent interaction is to retrieve properties of a concept identified by its SNOMED CT Identifier. To do so, execute the following command:

curl -u "test:test" 'http://localhost:8080/snowowl/snomedct/SNOMEDCT/concepts/138875005?expand=pt()&pretty'

The response should look something like this:

{
  "id": "138875005",
  "released": true,
  "active": true,
  "effectiveTime": "20020131",
  "moduleId": "900000000000207008",
  "iconId": "snomed_rt_ctv3",
  "score": 0.0,
  "memberOf": [ "900000000000497000" ],
  "activeMemberOf": [ "900000000000497000" ],
  "definitionStatus": {
    "id": "900000000000074008"
  },
  "subclassDefinitionStatus": "NON_DISJOINT_SUBCLASSES",
  "pt": {
    "id": "220309016",
    "term": "SNOMED CT Concept",
    "concept": {
      "id": "138875005"
    },
    "type": {
      "id": "900000000000013009"
    },
    "typeId": "900000000000013009",
    "conceptId": "138875005",
    "acceptability": {
      "900000000000509007": "PREFERRED",
      "900000000000508004": "PREFERRED"
    }
  },
  "ancestorIds": [ ],
  "parentIds": [ "-1" ],
  "statedAncestorIds": [ ],
  "statedParentIds": [ "-1" ],
  "definitionStatusId": "900000000000074008"
}

We used the expand query parameter to include the concept's Preferred Term (PT) in the response. The concept in question is the root concept of the SNOMED CT hierarchy.

Search by term

Snow Owl also allows users to retrieve concepts matching a specific search term or phrase. See what happens if we try to find the concepts associated with the condition "Méniere's disease":

curl -u "test:test" 'http://localhost:8080/snowowl/snomedct/SNOMEDCT/concepts?term=M%C3%A9niere%27s%20disease&expand=pt()&pretty'

This time more than one concept can be present in the response, so we receive a collection of items. Results are sorted by relevance, indicated by the field score:

{
  "items": [ {
    "id": "13445001",
    "released": true,
    "active": true,
    "effectiveTime": "20020131",
    "moduleId": "900000000000207008",
    "iconId": "disorder",
    "score": 3.9305625,
    "memberOf": [ "447562003", "733073007", "900000000000497000" ],
    "activeMemberOf": [ "447562003", "733073007", "900000000000497000" ],
    "definitionStatus": {
      "id": "900000000000074008"
    },
    "subclassDefinitionStatus": "NON_DISJOINT_SUBCLASSES",
    "pt": {
      "id": "178783019",
      "term" : "Ménière's disease",
      "concept": {
        "id": "13445001"
      },
      "type": {
        "id": "900000000000013009"
      },
      "typeId": "900000000000013009",
      "conceptId": "13445001",
      "acceptability": {
        "900000000000509007": "PREFERRED",
        "900000000000508004": "PREFERRED"
      }
    },
    "ancestorIds": [ "-1", "20425006", ..., "1279550006" ],
    "parentIds": [ "50438001" ],
    "statedAncestorIds": [ "-1", "64572001", "138875005", "404684003" ],
    "statedParentIds": [ "50438001" ],
    "definitionStatusId": "900000000000074008"
  }, {
    ...
  } ],
  "searchAfter": "AoIFQAd5LmITGo8wMTA4OTA5MTAwMDExOTEwNQ==",
  "limit": 50,
  "total": 27
}

The total number of matching concepts is shown in the property named total.