Introduction

Unplanned derivatives/aliquots refer to specimens created that are not in the protocol definition. Therefore "unplanned". There are many pages where such specimens can be created.

Child specimen event

Since 4.3, when a derivative or aliquot is created, an event with processing details are added on the parent specimen. This can be used for viewing and querying purpose.

Derivatives

A derivative is a child specimen whose specimen type is different from the parent's. E.g. plasma is derived from blood.

Create from the specimen overview page

Click here to view the steps...

Go to the overview page of the specimen
Click on 'Create' button and select option 'Derivative'
Enter the details and click on 'Submit'
Once the derived specimen is created, a new event named 'Processing Event' is added at the parent specimen level
Click on the processing event from the 'Recent Events' section of the overview page to view the specimen and processing details

Create from the query results

During specimen distribution, you may have to create derivates in bulk. E.g. you shortlisted 100 blood specimens from whom plasma has to be distributed. In such cases, you create derivatives from query or cart.

Click here to view the steps...

Go to the queries list page and click on 'Create'
Create a query using any filters and click on 'View Records' to get the list of records
Select the specimen rows or click on 'Select All' from the results page and click on 'Specimens' → 'Create Derivatives'
Enter further details like type, quantity, etc and click on 'Create Derived Specimens' to create derivatives

Create derivatives from other pages

Similarly, you can create derivatives from many other pages in a few clicks.

CP specimen list
Container specimen list
Reserved specimens list
Visit and specimen pages
Participant specimen list

E.g. Create derived specimens from the participant's specimen list

Click here to view the steps...

Go to the overview page of the participant
Click on 'Specimens' icon from the left-side menu
Select the specimens from the list, click on 'Actions' → 'Create Derivatives'

From v5.1, the ‘Actions’ button will appear only after selecting at least one specimen from the specimen tree.
Enter details and click on 'Create Derived Specimens' to create derivatives.

Aliquots

Aliquots are multiple sub-parts of the same type of specimen. E.g. 10ml of plasma can be aliquoted into 10x1ml tubes. The UI to create aliquots is the same as derivatives. Just follow the same steps and chose "Aliquots" instead of "Derivatives".

Note: Since v4.3

You can directly create aliquots with a different type than the parent's type without manually creating an intermediate derivative. The system will create a derivative of the type selected and the aliquots under it. This is aimed to reduce the number of steps/clicks it takes to create aliquots.

Creating Derivatives and Aliquots from the same page

Introduced in v7.0

From the 'Create Derivatives' option, it is possible to create derivatives and aliquots from the same page.

Steps to create derivatives and aliquots from the same page

From the specimen overview or 'Actions' button, click on 'Create Derivative'
Enter the mandatory details like label, specimen type
On the right side, click on the 'Create Aliquots' checkbox
Click on 'Copy Row' to add another copy of the row added. You can change the details if needed
Click on 'Submit' once you have added the derivative rows
A success message is displayed stating that the derivatives are created successfully. You are redirected to the aliquot details page.
Enter the aliquot details like count and quantity per aliquot in the rows.
Uncheck the 'Close Parent' icon on the right-hand side across the row if you want to keep the derivatives open. The close parent option is checked by default. Click 'Submit' once done.
A success message is displayed and the specimens are created

'Available Quantity' of parent specimen

When aliquots are created, the available quantity of parent specimen is updated based upon the total quantity of aliquots created under the specimen.

For example, if the initial quantity and available quantity is 4 ml and 2 aliquots are created each of 1 ml, the available quantity will get updated to 2 ml.

In the case of derivatives, the parent quantity is not updated. When derivative is created, they can be of any other specimen type and there is no way for OpenSpecimen to know how much parent quantity was used in the creation of derivative. Example: Plasma/Serum/Buffy Coat derived from the Whole Blood, or DNA derivatives from a specimen. Hence the parent available quantity is only updated in case of aliquots, not in the case of derivatives.