Clinical Feature Vector Generation using Unsupervised Graph Representation Learning from Heterogeneous Medical Records

Abstract

The diversity of patient information recorded on electronic medical records generally, presents a challenge for converting it into fixed-length vectors that align with clinical characteristics. To address this issue, this study aimed to utilize an unsupervised graph representation learning method to transform the unstructured inpatient information from electronic medical records into a fixed-length vector. Infograph, one of the unsupervised graph representation learning algorithms was applied to the graphed inpatient information, resulting in embedded vectors of fixed length. The embedded vectors were then evaluated for whether the clinical information was preserved in it. The results indicated that the embedded representation contained information that could predict readmission within 30 days, demonstrating the feasibility of using unsupervised graph representation learning to transform patient information into fixed-length vectors that retain clinical characteristics.