relation extractor desc

The relation extraction module is capable of detecting two types of UMLS relations between identified annotation (entities and modifiers): LocationOf and DegreeOf. The relation module operates by pairing identified annotations and assigning a relation label to the pairs. To perform this task, the module uses three UIMA-compliant analysis engines (AEs):

1. AE for detecting instances of the LocationOf relation which may exist between entity mentions. E.g. LocationOf("joint", "joint pain").

2. AE for detecting instances of the DegreeOf relation which may exist between entity mentions and modifiers. E.g. DegreeOf("chronic", "headache").

3. AE for detecting modifiers (e.g. "severe", "chronic")

The module provides the descriptor files for detecting modifiers and extracting the relations. The module also provides an aggreagate AE descriptor which defines the full pipeline that is necessary for extracting relations. The latter includes the preprocessing that is required for relation extraction and the AEs that discover relations.