mdm2neo4j: Generating Graph Representations of Medical Data Models

Medical sciences generate and collect large amounts of data. To advance patient care, it is necessary to analyse the data at hand. This however is only possible if data and metadata are findable. The Portal for Medical Data Models provides reusable medical data forms in the CDISC Operational Data Model format, thereby making numerous structural metadata sets available for reuse in a standardised format. However, exploring the growing collection of data forms remains a challenge. Here, we present mdm2neo4j, a software tool that transforms ODM metadata from the MDM portal into a neo4j graph. Thereby, graph-based exploration of the ODM metadata is enabled together with complex queries across linked metadata sets and efficient syntax checking. ODM metadata becomes easily explorable, findable and retrievable. The mdm2neo4j is one example of the increasing use of graph databases in health data management.