We've blogged before about Matrix features in TrialGrid; creating All-Forms and Merged Matrices, features to help with viewing large Matrices and highlighting inactive Forms.

Recently we were asked by some of our users if we could help identify 'overlapping Matrices', i.e. a Folder/Form combination which exists in two or more Matrices (excluding the All-Forms and Merged Matrices). It is useful to check for this because Medidata Rave EDC will remove Forms when reversing a Merge Matrix Check Action and if a Form is included in more than one Matrix then Forms can disappear from subjects unexpectedly.

However it is very difficult to spot this problem in advance, especially on a large study. The largest we've seen has more than 500 Folders, 50 Forms, 30 Matrices and over 14,000 Folder/Form combinations in those Matrices. Checking those for overlaps in Rave or a spreadsheet is virtually impossible.

With that in mind we set to work to add features to TrialGrid Matrices to make it easy to see when Folder/Forms are used in more than one Matrix.

Searching and selecting multiple Matrices

When we first open the Matrices editor in TrialGrid the Default Matrix is displayed. Here we're using a small demo study as an example:

We can zoom in:

and can search for all of the 'VISIT' Matrices and select them by clicking 'Select All':

Overlaps highlighted

Now we can see two Folder/Form combinations which are highlighted orange (used in two Matrices) and red (used in three or more Matrices). Hovering over the cells shows us which Matrices are used:

This highlighting means it is easy to see where there are overlaps and find the Matrices which need to be edited.

Editing is as simple as clicking on the cells:

Merged and All-Forms Matrices

Once we're done with correcting the Matrices we can quickly generate Merged or All-Form Matrices:

Printing Matrices

You can print out one, or a combination of Matrices:

Large Matrices

The examples above are from a small study we use to demo TrialGrid. A real study might be much larger. Here's an extract from a real study Draft which has more than 200 Matrices:

In this image we are displaying 214 Matrices simultaneously and we can immediately see the overlaps.

Imagine searching through Rave Architect or an Architect Loader Spreadsheet to find them!

One more thing...

While working on these additions to Matrix features we added an easter egg for some entertainment.

'GAME ON' as our Medidata friends would say (no Matrices were harmed in the making of this clip).

Contact us if you'd like to learn more about TrialGrid and see these features in action.