Collecting Biospecimens

Biospecimens are often collected for research studies. In Onyx, biospecimens are collected during stages of the participant interview, so the general procedures for controlling an interview stage apply to biospecimen collection stages (see this figure).

All Onyx interview stages, including those used to collect biospecimens, are highly customizable. Each study defines which biospecimens must be collected and establishes a way to determine if the collection of a particular biospecimen is contraindicated. Specimens that are routinely collected include blood, urine, and saliva. But your study could have defined collection of other types of biospecimen. Onyx allows studies to include directions to staff members right in the Onyx pages used to collect the biospecimens.

Due to the fact that each study's biospecimen collection stages are unique, this chapter cannot discuss the actual biospecimen collection stages defined by your study. Instead, this chapter includes:

• Key concepts that apply to all biospecimen collection stages
• An example of a biospecimen collection stage

Key Concepts

Multiple Samples

For a particular biospecimen collection stage, multiple samples of the particular biospecimen can be collected. For example, a study could require that five tubes of blood be collected.

Multiple Stages

A study can define its biospecimen stages in any way that is convenient.

• A study can collect different types of biospecimen (blood, urine, saliva, and so on)
• A study can define one or more biospecimen stages
• Each stage can collect one or more types of specimen
• A particular type of specimen can be collected in one or more stages
• Several stages may be necessary to match contraindication constraints. For example, blood collection may be contraindicated but not urine collection, so it would be necessary to collect them in separate stages.
  this figure gives some examples of how biospecimen stages could be defined to suit a study's requirements.
  
  Biospecimen stages can be defined in any way that is convenient for the study

  

Sample Barcode

Typically, the receptacles used to collect biospecimens are labelled with barcodes that you scan during the biospecimen collection stage.

Onyx can be customized to validate the format of the barcode. If the barcode does not pass the validation when you scan it, Onxy displays an error message.

Samples Collected vs. Samples Expected

The last page of a biospecimen collection stage usually displays a report of the number of the number of samples collected (the number of barcodes that have been scanned) and the number of samples expected (the number of samples defined by the study). this figure shows an example page that reports this information. If too few samples were collected, you can select the Previous button to return to the page in which you can scan additional barcodes.

Predefined Comments and Open Comments

Your study may have defined a number of comments that you can associate with a particular a sample. You choose the comment from a list. The use of predefined comments makes it possible to categorize the biospecimens collected.

Your study may also have provided a text box in which you can enter an open comment.

You will also be able to enter an open comment in the standard Onyx way when you finish the stage. You select Adminstration and then Finish. At that point an Action window will be displayed that contains a text field for any final comments you need to make about the stage. See Finishing a stage.

Example Biospecimen Collection Stage

Apart from scanning the barcodes on sample receptacles, there is really nothing special about the procedures for biospecimen collection stages.

See this figure for the general procedures used to navigate through an interview stage.

Since your study has defined its own biospecimen collection stages, this guide cannot include procedures for those stages in your version of Onyx. Instead, this section uses an example blood and urine collection stage. this figure shows the data entry page of the example stage, and gives some pointers that apply to any biospecimen collection stage.

Search Onyx Documentation