A named entity recognition framework using transformers to identify relevant clinical findings from mammographic radiological reports

Detecting and extracting findings in a radiological report is crucial for text mining tasks in several applications. In this case, a labeled process for the image associated with the radiological report in mammography and Spanish context for a computer vision model is required. This paper shows the methodology and process generated for this goal. This paper presents a Named Entity Recognition (NER) approach based on a transformer deep learning model, using a labeled corpus and fine-tuning process to find three concepts that compose a typical finding in a mammographic radiological report: laterality, location, and the finding. We add another concept in the labeled process, the negation, necessary to identify falses positive inside the text that writes the radiologist. Our model achieves an F1 score of 88.24% classifying the three principal concepts for a finding, product of the labeled and fine-tuning process. The results presented here will be used as input for future training work on a computer vision model.