Patient IDs vs Sample IDs
A patient ID identifies a person, such as SYN001. A sample or clinical-record
ID identifies a particular specimen or observation, such as SYN001:week_0.
Several records can belong to one person, so record counts are not patient counts.
Choose the right scope
| Task | Selection |
|---|---|
| Find people with a disease or treatment | Patients |
| Compare clinical snapshots in Pheno-Ranker | Records/timepoints |
| Analyze molecular measurements | Assay samples linked to patients |
| Reuse a plot selection | Preserve the original record or sample IDs |
Analysis requirements determine whether repeated samples are allowed. Selecting patients does not by itself resolve which visit or assay sample to use.
Transfer selections
Use Save cohort or Open in Analysis to preserve dataset, patient and sample identities. Do not strip prefixes or merge matching IDs manually: different datasets may use the same source ID, and Pheno-Ranker may add temporary reference markers.
The app recognizes patient terms such as subject and individual, and sample terms such as biosample, specimen, record and timepoint. Review the result's actual scope before handing it to another tool.
See cross-sectional and longitudinal data for participant, visit and assay linkage.