Create a New Procedure Definition
A procedure is a set of properties for one experiment.
To create a new Procedure Definition:
- Press the New button on the Procedure Definition submanager in the Results module.
- The Specify Identification for Definition dialog will open. Select the Institution and Name for the Procedure Definition, and click the OK button.
- The Procedure editor will open with the Procedure properties displayed. Enter values for required fields and any other fields, as desired:
- Name - This field will be populated with the name entered in step #2.
- Institution - This field will be populated with the Institution entered in step #2. This field is not editable through the Procedure editor.
- Platform
- Assay Type – Required field.
- Analyte - The analyte is the substance to be measured or analyzed by the procedure.
- Calibrator Required - A calibrator is a specimen that is run intermittently to get a calibration reading for an instrument; these are in their own run.
- Standard Required - A standard is a sample within a run, or run by itself, to which all specified samples will be compared.
- Software Specification - The software used with the machine running the test.
- Owner - This field is defaulted to the username that created the procedure definition, but this field can be changed here.
- Assay Setup Type – Required field. Choose ‘Specimen Order’ if the specimens are tested one by one, or choose ‘Specimen Mapping’ if the specimens are entered in a multi-specimen plate.
- Procedure Modifiers
- Notes - Use this field to capture any information not included in the other fields.
Example: Dr. Hu is studying time travel and needs to document the results of several runs of her experiments tracking hormone levels of mice she sends through space and time. She can use the Procedure Definition submanager to detail the information her experiments will capture about Time.
- If she creates a new procedure definition, she must first enter the required details and then detail any other information about the data collection process which she knows and information about the run – a single cycle of the Time experiments.
- When finished, click Run Properties in the left panel. If desired, fill in default values for Start Time, End Time, Input Mapping Vessel, and Number of Specimens.
- While highlighting the Run Properties node, select the Add Field icon.
- Click the Add Field button to add new run properties. Fill in required and desired properties of the new field.
Example Continued: Dr. Hu can then can add and edit properties for each Run. She will set up additional properties to note who the technician running the machine was, which machine was used, and how long the procedure took.
- Click the Add Run Data SetOne Run Data Set is automatically added to the new Procedure Definition. It can be edited or deleted, but there must be at least one Data Set before the Procedure can be saved. Select the type of data set to add:
- Select Table if every row in the data set will represent a specimen and every column will represent a different data field.
- Select Grid if every cell in the data set will represent a specimen’s value for a set data field.
- Add Data Set fields by highlighting the Data Set node and selecting Add Field.
- Enter required information about the field, such as the name, whether it will be required or not, and the Field Type.
- Add verifiers to the Data Set by highlighting the Data Set node and selecting Add Verifier. Verifiers provide a method of verifying data integrity.
- Enter required information about the verifier, such as the name, and the conditions under which the verifier will be triggered.
- Add controls by highlighting the Data Set node and selecting Add Control. Controls provide additional data verification to only specimens designated as “controls” in the results batch.
- Enter required information about the control, such as the name, the conditions under which it will be triggered, and whether it will be a warning, error, or weak error.
- Weak Errors only apply to controls and verifiers in procedure definitions. The batch can still be saved when they are present in the editor, but they represent a more serious verification than a Warning does.
Example Continued: She will next set up the fields which she will use to capture properties of the mice blood which may be affected by time: viscosity, specific gravity, PH, etc. Dr. Hu will set up controls to mark the specimens which were taken before the mouse travelled through time, in order to verify that those results have expected values.
- Click Standards in the left panel. Fill in any values used to mark which specimen(s) in a run of the procedure which other specimens may be compared against.
- Click the Add Characteristic icon from the toolbar. Enter a Characteristic Name and Characteristic Values. Use the Insert Row icon or highlight a row and press the down arrow key to add rows.
Example Continued: Dr. Hu will also specify other information on the dilution of and reagents added to her mice blood specimens, via Characteristics.
- When finished capturing all the details of a procedure, press the Save button on the toolbar or choose Save from the File menu.
- Now the procedure will be listed on the Procedure Definition submanager with a Released Status of Not Released.
Release a Procedure Definition
To release an Existing Procedure Definition:
A Procedure Definition cannot be used to create a result batch (manually or via a requisition task) until it is released.
- Select the desired procedure definition to release.
- Press the Release button in the Procedure Definition submanager.
- The Release Definition dialog will open. Press Yes to change the Release Status to Released. Press No to cancel.
Example Continued: After saving and releasing the procedure definition, Dr. Hu’s experiment results can be recorded.