Table 1.

A summary of the minimum technical data elements (MTDE)

#	Data element	Data model element	Type	Description
1	Blood collection tube type	blood_tube_type	Controlled vocabulary from: EDTA CellSave Streck Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD) Not Applicable	The kind of tube used to collect the sample(s) taken from a biological entity for testing, diagnostic, propagation, treatment, or research purposes.
2	Sample composition	Composition	Controlled vocabulary from: Clinical Derived or Contrived Cell Line Buccal Cells Buffy Coat Bone Marrow Components Bone Marrow Components NOS Control Analyte Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC)	Sample type describing the cellular composition of the sample, as specified from a controlled vocabulary, containing clinical, contrived, and other terms.
3	Shipping temperature	shipping_temperature	Float	The temperature, in centigrade, at which the biospecimen was kept while it was being transported from the procurement site to its processing destination.
4	Blood fractionalization method	blood_fractionation_method	String	The name or description of the method used to obtain the blood fraction sample. (e.g., Ficoll Method, Novartis Protocol #001, 2,000 g centrifuge at 4°C with gentle deceleration). Alternatively, if you have provided a detailed protocol, enter its file_name here.
5	Time to fractionation	hours_to_fractionation_upper, hours_to_fractionation_lower –	Float or either Unknown or Not Applicable	The upper/lower limit on the amount of time, in hours, between the blood draw and the fractionation into its components. If the exact time is known, make this value equal to that of the lower limit. If the time is completely unknown, enter Unknown. If no fractionation was performed on this sample, enter Not Applicable.
6	Analyte isolation method	analyte_isolation_method	String	The name or general description of the method used to isolate the analyte. Alternatively, if you have provided a protocol, put the file_name here.
7	Time to freezer	hours_to_freezer_upper, hours_to_freezer_lower	Float or either Unknown or Not Applicable	The upper/lower limit on the amount of time, in hours, that it took between the sample being fractionated and the aliquot being frozen or otherwise preserved. If the exact time is known, make this value equal to that of the lower limit. If the time is completely unknown, enter Unknown. If no fractionation was performed on this sample, enter Not Applicable.
8	Storage temperature	storage_temperature	Float	The temperature, in centigrade, at which the aliquot was preserved and/or stored.
9	Concentration: cellular concentration or molecular concentration	molecular_concentration or cellular_concentration	Float	If the analyte is a molecule (e.g., DNA or RNA), report the observed concentration in nanograms per microliter (for molecular concentration). If the measurement is a cell count, then this is reported as cells per microliter (cellular_concentration)
10	Assay method	assay_method	Controlled vocabulary from: Targeted Sequencing Copy Number Analysis	General name or description of the method used to characterize the analyte.
11	Time to assay	days_to_assay	Integer	The amount of time, in days, between the date used for index and the assay used to address this analyte.