Helix Insight

Documentation / Screening / Screening Modes

Screening Modes

The screening mode determines how the seven component scores are weighted. Different clinical scenarios require different prioritization strategies. A diagnostic case with known symptoms should emphasize phenotype matching, while a proactive adult screening should emphasize cancer and cardiac gene relevance.

Available Modes

Diagnostic

Patient has HPO phenotype terms. Phenotype matching dominates scoring -- variants in genes matching the patient's symptoms are strongly prioritized.

Neonatal Screening

Newborn screening program (0-28 days). Emphasizes early-onset disease genes, treatable metabolic conditions, and gene constraint.

Pediatric Screening

Child and adolescent screening. Similar emphasis to neonatal with broader childhood-onset gene coverage.

Proactive Adult

Adult health screening without specific symptoms. Emphasizes cancer predisposition, cardiac genes, and age-appropriate actionable findings. Default mode.

Carrier Screening

Recessive carrier identification for reproductive planning. Focuses on common carrier conditions.

Pharmacogenomics

Drug response variant screening. Focuses on pharmacogenomically relevant genes.

Weight Profiles

Each mode assigns different weights to the seven scoring components. All weights sum to exactly 1.0. The dominant weight in each profile is highlighted.

ComponentDiagnosticNeonatalPediatricAdultElderly
Constraint0.200.250.250.200.15
Deleteriousness0.200.200.200.250.20
Phenotype0.400.100.100.100.10
Dosage0.100.150.150.100.10
Consequence0.050.100.100.100.10
Compound Het0.050.050.050.050.05
Age Relevance0.000.150.150.200.30

Automatic Mode Selection

When the clinician provides HPO phenotype terms, Diagnostic mode is automatically selected regardless of the requested screening mode. This ensures that phenotype matching always receives the highest weight when symptom data is available. Without HPO terms, the selected mode's weight profile is used. The Proactive Adult profile is the default when no mode is specified.

Design Principle

Age relevance weight increases with patient age: 0.00 (diagnostic), 0.15 (neonatal/pediatric), 0.20 (adult), 0.30 (elderly). This reflects the clinical reality that older patients benefit most from narrowly actionable findings, while younger patients warrant broader screening. In diagnostic mode, phenotype match replaces age relevance entirely as the dominant signal.