Extending Projects/Subjects/Sessions with Custom Metadata

[Ashley Teraishi]

I’m working with XNAT v1.9.1.1 (build 158) on Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS and would like to extend the system by capturing additional metadata on existing entities. Below are examples of the kinds of metadata and their subfields that I’d like to track (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Projects
  • IRB number
• Subjects
  • Medication(s) (subfields: name, dose, start date, etc.)
  • Diagnosis (subfields: primary diagnosis, tumor type, tumor grade, etc.)
• Imaging Sessions
  • RANO results (input options: CR, PR, SD, PD)
  • Study Timepoint (input options: baseline, on treatment, end of treatment, etc.)

Initially, I created custom data types via a plugin, using the XNAT Template Sample plugin as a reference, but these only spawn new “experiment” entities rather than augmenting the built-in Project, Subject, or Session objects.

My questions are:

1. Is it possible for a plugin to inject these example fields directly into existing Project, Subject, and Session records, without creating separate experiment records, similarly to how custom forms work in the web UI?
2. If not, would you recommend using XNAT’s custom forms mechanism instead of custom data types/plugins for this use case?

Any best-practice guidance, configuration tips, or example code snippets would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your help!

[Mohana Ramaratnam]

Hi Ashley,

I would use custom forms over plugin as time to deploy is reduced. 

Regards,
Mohana Ramaratnam,

 moh...@xnatworks.io
 xnatworks.io | Find us on LinkedIn! 

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[Ashley Teraishi]

Hi Mohana,

Thank you for the recommendation to use custom forms, that’s very helpful.

Just to clarify, is it ever possible to achieve the same result using a plugin? Specifically, can a plugin be designed to inject additional metadata fields directly into existing Project, Subject, and Session records, without creating a new experiment type, similar to how custom forms work in the web UI? I’m asking in case there are advanced approaches or less common patterns I might have missed in the documentation.

Thanks again for your time and insight!

Best,

Ashley Teraishi

[roman....@gmail.com]

Very interesting question. I am facing the same question here. Is there any document discussing this?
Best, 
Sandro