Lab Report API Documentation

Overview

The Blood Biomarkers API provides an advanced medical report parsing service that converts unstructured lab reports (PDFs, images) into structured, actionable biomarker data. Using state-of-the-art AI models, the API extracts, standardizes, and delivers comprehensive biomarker information with high accuracy.

Key Features

• Multi-format Support: Accepts PDF, PNG, and JPEG files

• Batch Processing: Upload multiple files in a single request

• Real-time Status Tracking: Monitor processing progress through status updates

• Standardized Output: Biomarkers mapped to standard enums with UCUM-compliant units

• Flexible Delivery: Asynchronous webhook delivery or synchronous response

• Reference Tracking: Associate uploads with your internal user/patient IDs

Quick Start

Basic Upload Request

curl --location 'https://api.tryterra.co/v2/lab-reports' \
--header 'dev-id: YOUR_DEV_ID' \
--header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/bloodtest.pdf"' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/labresult.jpg"'

With Reference ID

curl --location 'https://api.tryterra.co/v2/lab-reports?reference_id=patient_123' \
--header 'dev-id: YOUR_DEV_ID' \
--header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
--form 'files=@"/path/to/report.pdf"'

API Reference

Upload Endpoint

POST https://api.tryterra.co/v2/lab-reports

Alternative: POST /v2/reports/upload (legacy)

Headers

Name	Type	Required	Description
dev-id	string	✅	Your Terra developer ID
x-api-key	string	✅	Your Terra API key
Content-Type	string	✅	Must be multipart/form-data

Query Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Description
reference_id	string	null	Your internal identifier for the patient/user. This ID will be included in the webhook payload for easy reconciliation

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
files	file[]	✅	One or more files to upload. Supported formats: PDF, PNG, JPEG. Maximum 10 files per request

Response Codes

Code	Description
202 Accepted	Upload successful, processing started asynchronously
200 OK	Upload and processing successful (sync mode only)
400 Bad Request	Invalid request (missing files, wrong format)
500 Internal Server Error	Processing error

Success Response (202/200)

{
    "upload_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "files": [
        {"file_name": "blood_test_2024.pdf"},
        {"file_name": "lab_results.jpg"}
    ]
}

Error Response (400/500)

{
    "type": "about:blank",
    "title": "Invalid File Format",
    "status": 400,
    "detail": "File format must be PDF, PNG, or JPEG.",
    "instance": "/lab-reports"
}

Processing Pipeline

Status Progression

The system tracks detailed status updates throughout processing:

RECEIVED → QUEUED → DEQUEUED → PROCESSING → PROCESSED →
STANDARDIZING → STANDARDIZED → QUEUED (delivery) → SENT → COMPLETED

Status	Description	Terminal
received	Files uploaded and stored	No
queued	Task queued for processing	No
dequeued	Processing started	No
processing	Extracting biomarker data from files	No
processed	Extraction complete	No
standardizing	Mapping to standard biomarker enums and units	No
standardized	Standardization complete	No
sent	Results delivered to webhook	Yes ✅
failed	Error occurred during processing	Yes ❌

Status updates above are only used internally in https://dashboard.tryterra.co/dashboard/lab-reports at the moment.

Webhook Payload

Structure

The parsed results are delivered to your configured webhook endpoint:

{
    "upload_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "reference_id": "patient_123",  // If provided in upload
    "data": [{
        "date": "2024-03-15",
        "time": "09:30",
        "results": [
            {
                "original_name": "Haemoglobin",
                "display_name": "Hemoglobin",
                "biomarker": "hemoglobin_blood",
                "type": "blood",
                "value": 14.2,
                "value_bound": null,
                "display_units": "g/dL",
                "unit_code": "g/dL",
                "units": {
                    "id": 123,
                    "name": "grams_per_deciliter",
                    "numerator": "g",
                    "denominator": "dL",
                    "exponent": null
                },
                "reference_ranges": [
                    {
                        "reference_lower_bound": 13.5,
                        "reference_upper_bound": 17.5,
                        "classification": "normal",
                        "context": {
                            "sex": "male",
                            "age_lower_bound": 18,
                            "age_upper_bound": null,
                            "modifiers": []
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "notes": null
            }
        ]
    }]
}

Field Specifications

Top Level Fields

Field	Type	Description
upload_id	string	Unique identifier for this upload
reference_id	string?	Your reference ID if provided
data	array	Array of report data (usually one item)

LabData Object

Field	Type	Description
date	string?	ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD) when specimen was collected
time	string?	Time in HH:MM format (24-hour)
results	Result[]	Array of biomarker measurements

Result Object

Field	Type	Description
original_name	string?	Exact name from the report
display_name	string?	Standardized English name
biomarker	string?	Standardized biomarker enum (see list below)
type	string	Specimen type: "blood" or "urine"
value	number?	Numeric measurement value
value_bound	object?	Boundaries for non-exact values
display_units	string?	Units as shown on report
unit_code	string?	UCUM-compliant unit code
reference_ranges	ReferenceRange[]	Normal/abnormal ranges
notes	string?	Additional lab comments

Value Bound Object

Used when exact values aren't available (e.g., ">5" or "<0.1"):

Field	Type	Description
greater_than	number?	Lower bound when result is ">X"
less_than	number?	Upper bound when result is "<Y"

Units Object

Structured breakdown of measurement units:

Field	Type	Description
id	number?	Internal unit identifier
name	string?	Internal unit name
numerator	string?	Top unit (e.g., "mg", "mmol")
denominator	string?	Bottom unit (e.g., "L", "dL")
exponent	number?	Power of 10 multiplier (e.g., 9 for 10^9/L)

Reference Range Object

Field	Type	Description
reference_lower_bound	number?	Lower normal limit
reference_upper_bound	number?	Upper normal limit
classification	string	"normal", "abnormal", or "borderline"
context	Context	Demographic context for this range

Context Object

Field	Type	Description
sex	string?	"male", "female", or "other"
age_lower_bound	number?	Minimum age in years
age_upper_bound	number?	Maximum age in years
modifiers	Modifier[]	Additional qualifiers

Modifier Object

Field	Type	Description
dimension	string?	Qualifier type (e.g., "menstrual_phase")
value	any?	Associated value

Handling Edge Cases

Missing Data

The API gracefully handles missing or unclear data:

• Missing dates/times: Fields set to null

• Unclear values: value field set to null, may use value_bound

• Missing units: All unit fields null, display_units = "Unknown"

• One-sided ranges: One bound is null (e.g., reference_upper_bound: null means ">X")

UTF-8 Encoding

⚠️ Important: Always use UTF-8 encoding when parsing responses. The data may contain:

• Scientific symbols (µ, ×, ±)

• Superscript/subscript notation

• International characters in names

Error Handling

Implement retry logic for failed webhooks:

// Example webhook handler
app.post('/webhook/lab-reports', async (req, res) => {
    try {
        const data = req.body;

        // Verify upload_id exists
        if (!data.upload_id) {
            return res.status(400).send('Missing upload_id');
        }

        // Process biomarker data
        for (const report of data.data) {
            await processBiomarkers(report.results);
        }

        res.status(200).send('OK');
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Webhook processing error:', error);
        res.status(500).send('Processing failed');
        // Terra will retry on 5xx responses
    }
});

Biomarker Enums

The system standardizes biomarkers to consistent enum values. Common examples:

Display Name	Biomarker Enum	Typical Units
Hemoglobin	hemoglobin_blood	g/dL
Glucose	glucose_blood	mg/dL or mmol/L
Cholesterol Total	cholesterol_total	mg/dL
Vitamin D	vitamin_d_25_oh	ng/mL
TSH	thyroid_stimulating_hormone	mIU/L
White Blood Cell Count	white_blood_cell_count	10^9/L

For the complete list of biomarker enums, refer to the supplementary files:

• biomarkers.json - Full biomarker enum list

646KB

biomarkers.json

Best Practices

1. Implement Idempotency

Track upload_id to prevent duplicate processing:

def handle_webhook(data):
    upload_id = data['upload_id']

    if already_processed(upload_id):
        return  # Skip duplicate

    process_results(data)
    mark_as_processed(upload_id)

2. Handle Partial Data

Not all biomarkers/units may be successfully extracted:

for result in data['results']:
    if result.get('biomarker') == 'unknown':
        # Log for manual review
        log_unknown_biomarker(result)
    else:
        process_biomarker(result)

3. Validate Reference Ranges

Consider patient context when interpreting results:

def is_abnormal(result, patient_age, patient_sex):
    for range_obj in result['reference_ranges']:
        context = range_obj['context']

        # Check if range applies to patient
        if (context['sex'] == patient_sex and
            context['age_lower_bound'] <= patient_age <= context['age_upper_bound']):

            # Check if value is within range
            lower = range_obj['reference_lower_bound']
            upper = range_obj['reference_upper_bound']

            if lower and result['value'] < lower:
                return True
            if upper and result['value'] > upper:
                return True

    return False

Rate Limits & Quotas

• File Size: Maximum 10MB per file

• Files per Request: Maximum 10 files

• Processing Time: Typically 1-10 minutes per report, based on size

Support

For technical support or questions:

• Email: [email protected]

• Documentation: docs.tryterra.co

Changelog

v2 (Current)

• Enhanced biomarker standardization

• UCUM-compliant unit codes (in Beta)

• Improved reference range context

• Status tracking system

• Multi-file batch processing

v1 (Deprecated)

• Basic PDF parsing

• Limited biomarker recognition