Natural Language Processing and Semantical Representation of Medical Texts

R. H. Baud; A.-M. Rassinoux; J.-R. Scherrer

doi:10.1055/s-0038-1634865

Methods of Information in Medicine, Table of Contents

Methods Inf Med 1992; 31(02): 117-125
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1634865

Original Article

Schattauer GmbH

Natural Language Processing and Semantical Representation of Medical Texts

R. H. Baud

¹Centre d’lnformatique Hospitaliere, University State Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

,

A.-M. Rassinoux

¹Centre d’lnformatique Hospitaliere, University State Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

,

J.-R. Scherrer

¹Centre d’lnformatique Hospitaliere, University State Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Abstract:

For medical records, the challenge for the present decade is Natural Language Processing (NLP) of texts, and the construction of an adequate Knowledge Representation. This article describes the components of an NLP system, which is currently being developed in the Geneva Hospital, and within the European Community’s AIM programme. They are: a Natural Language Analyser, a Conceptual Graphs Builder, a Data Base Storage component, a Query Processor, a Natural Language Generator and, in addition, a Translator, a Diagnosis Encoding System and a Literature Indexing System. Taking advantage of a closed domain of knowledge, defined around a medical specialty, a method called proximity processing has been developed. In this situation no parser of the initial text is needed, and the system is based on semantical information of near words in sentences. The benefits are: easy implementation, portability between languages, robustness towards badly-formed sentences, and a sound representation using conceptual graphs.

Key-Words

Natural Language - Knowledge Representation - Patient Database - Literature Indexing - Medical Nomenclature

Full Text

References

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