i2b2 - DB Basics

This is a very bare basics. At this stage we should be primarily interested in the observation_fact table and its relationship with the concept_dimension table within the CRC Cell. And then the correspondence with any ontology tables within the Ontology Cell. Interest in the patient_dimension, visit_dimension and other of the tables within the CRC are a little further down the line.

There can be a number of ontology tables within the Ontology Cell. We know which are ontology tables by an entry in the table_access table.

The QueryTool uses the ontology tables within the Ontology Cell to format queries for submission against the tables within the CRC Cell.

+-------------CRC Cell-------------+   +-----------Ontology Cell---------+
|                                  |   |                                 |
|        +===================+     |   |     +=====================+     |
|        | concept_dimension |<<<=========>>>|   ontology tables   |>:   | 
|        +=========^=========+     |   |     +==========^==========+ :   |
|                  |               |   |                |            :   |
|                  |               |   |                |            :   |
|                  |               |   |                |            :   |
|        +=========^=========+     |   |     +==========^==========+ :   |
|        | observation_fact  |     |   |     |   table_access      | :   | 
|        +===V===========V===+     |   |     +=====================+ :   |
|            |           |         |   |                             :   |
|            |           |         |   +-----------------------------:---+
| +==========V========+  |         |                                 :
| | patient_dimension |  |         |           +------------+        :
| +===================+  |         |<<<<<<<<<<<| QUERY TOOL |<<<<<<<<:
|                        |         |           +------------+  
|             +==========V======+  |
|             | visit_dimension |  |
|             +=================+  |
+----------------------------------+