Introduction

Transient Inventory Data Access Launchpad (TIDAL) is an application of Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN). The CHTN is a prospective procurement service organization. It assists the scientific community in obtaining biospecimens for research and advancing scientific research and knowledge.

Even though all projects utilizing CHTN service must be prospective in nature, all CHTN divisions have transient inventory on hand. Transient Inventory are those biospecimens that were collected but may not have satisfied use-cases for a variety of reasons. These are still high-quality, histopathologically reviewed biospecimens.

To receive biospecimens, you must have an active, accepted protocol with a CHTN division. Apply by downloading the application here.

What is CHTN?

The Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN) is a National Cancer Institute supported organization of five academic and one pediatric institution. Its core mission is to supply prospectively procured human biospecimens to the research community.

Prospective vs. Traditional Biobanking

The CHTN is NOT a traditional biobank resource. All services utilizing the CHTN must be conducted under an approved prospective procurement model service. Through the years, some samples were collected that are high quality but did not match the requesting investigator's protocol. In this case, the CHTN division holds the biosample within inventory (Transient Inventory).

Instructional Video

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What is TIDAL?

This tool allows the research community to conduct searches on transient inventories held at participating CHTN locations through a federated database model. Each participating service returns a recordset to answer the query without needing to supply data to a centralized server.

Conducting a Search

TIDAL attempts to keep search requests simple. There are four data elements: 1) Specimen Category; 2) Site; 3) Diagnosis; and 4) Preparation Specification. There is a 'Captcha' code security feature on this page to prevent web-bot requests.

Specimen Category

This is an overarching term within the diagnosis designation ontology. It is not required but assists in limiting results broadly (e.g., searching for 'Malignant' subtypes).

Site (Organ/Anatomic)

In this field, the user can specify any organ or anatomic site. Entering a short term will broaden the search results, while a longer term will restrict them.

Diagnosis

Specify any diagnosis condition here. You can use the 'List of Vocabulary Suggestion' tool for possible values. Like the Site field, shorter terms broaden results.

Preparations

Preparation options are pre-defined methods of preparing a biosample for storage (e.g., Slides, Fixed, Paraffin Block). This is a multi-select field.