Methodology & clinical reference
The evidence behind
the interpretation.
SomaVue organizes blood-lab results against a pre-written reference library. Ranges, four interpretation lenses, and pattern rules help practitioners review a panel together. They do not establish a diagnosis or replace the original laboratory report.
Clinical direction
Who curates the reference library?
SomaVue's clinical content is curated by a team of doctors and practitioners for functional and integrative practice. The library brings together laboratory reference information, published research, clinical guidance, and practitioner interpretation.
SomaVue Inc. is responsible for the product and its published content. This is a clinical reference library, not an independent guideline committee or a substitute for the treating practitioner's assessment.
Evidence & its limits
A linked source is a starting point, not a certainty score.
Interpretation entries are written in advance and stored in the product library. Source links accompany the relevant notes so a practitioner can examine the underlying material. No language model generates interpretation text when a patient panel is entered.
The library includes journal articles, institutional guidance, and clinical reference material. These sources do not all carry the same evidentiary weight. A mechanistic explanation, an observed association, and evidence that an intervention improves outcomes answer different questions.
What SomaVue does not claim
The current library does not assign a standardized evidence grade to every entry. A citation does not by itself establish causation, validate an optimal range, or prove that a suggested intervention is appropriate for an individual patient. Pre-written content can still contain errors or become outdated.
How to read the library counts
- Markers
- 224
- Panels
- 17
- Pattern rules
- 139
The current marker library contains 3,833 citation-link occurrences and 1,651 distinct source URLs. These are counts of links in the stored content, not counts of independently validated claims, unique studies, or patient outcomes. A source may be cited in several entries; different URLs may also refer to the same publication.
Explore the marker glossary to see the library's coverage, units, and reference ranges.
Reference ranges
Standard and functional ranges serve different purposes.
SomaVue stores standard reference intervals and functional, or “optimal,” intervals separately for each marker. Sex-specific intervals are stored where the library provides them. The app compares entered values with these stored ranges; it is not a substitute for the assay-specific interval printed on a patient's report.
Standard ranges
The standard-range layer draws on commonly used laboratory references. Before interpreting a flag, compare the marker, unit, specimen, and reference interval with the original laboratory report. Do not assume one stored interval fits every laboratory method, age group, pregnancy stage, or clinical setting.
Functional or “optimal” ranges
The functional-range layer reflects the integrative reference material and clinical judgment used to build SomaVue. It is a separate interpretive lens, not a universally agreed diagnostic standard. A result outside an optimal interval is not, by itself, evidence of disease or a reason to begin treatment.
Where references or clinical contexts differ, review the original source and the patient's circumstances rather than treating the app's boundary as a definitive answer. The glossary publishes the current stored intervals; it does not yet provide a source-by-source rationale for every numeric boundary.
Four interpretation lenses
Four ways to organize a clinical question.
The nutrient, toxin, infection, and circadian lenses group pre-written notes around possible contributors and related physiology. They are prompts for investigation, not a finding that a particular exposure, deficiency, or infection caused the result.
- Nutrient
- Nutrient status, cofactors, and metabolic relationships discussed in the reference notes.
- Toxin
- Environmental and toxicologic relationships that may merit a targeted exposure history.
- Infection
- Infectious and post-infectious associations that require clinical correlation.
- Circadian
- Timing, light, sleep, and rhythmic physiology considered alongside the result.
Relevance and depth vary by marker. The presence of a lens is not proof that every association within it has been validated as a clinical test or treatment pathway.
Pattern rules
Defined conditions, not generated diagnoses.
SomaVue applies 139 pre-written rules to entered marker values. Rules may use a single value, a calculated ratio, or a combination of results. A match displays the corresponding stored explanation; it is not a probability estimate or a diagnosis.
Some rules distinguish a developing pattern from results outside the standard interval. These labels describe the rule's threshold logic, not a validated disease stage. Missing markers, assay differences, timing, medications, and the patient's history can change the interpretation.
From a match to a clinical question
For example, an iron-related rule may compare ferritin, serum iron, transferrin saturation, and TIBC. The useful next step is to inspect those results and the relevant clinical context together, not to treat the rule's label as confirmation of a cause.
The library's rule count is not a measure of diagnostic accuracy. SomaVue does not present these rules as a prospectively validated diagnostic model.
Review & corrections
Automated checks flag questions. Clinical review decides changes.
The maintenance workflow includes weekly heuristic checks, a monthly AI-assisted range review, and a monthly research scan. Their outputs are review candidates, not automatic edits or evidence that every marker has received a fresh clinical sign-off.
- Identify the concern. A consistency check, research finding, or practitioner report raises a possible issue.
- Check the original evidence. Review the source, assay, units, population, and relevance before accepting a proposed change.
- Approve and release deliberately. Range or interpretation changes require operator review and an explicit product update. Automated findings can be deferred or rejected.
The update date on this page records a change to this methodology document. It is not a clinical-review date for every marker. A site build or an automated scan should not be read as clinical approval of the entire library.
To report a correction, email hello@somavue.co with the marker, disputed wording or range, assay and units where relevant, and a source. Do not send identifiable patient reports or patient details.
Data handling
Local parsing and PDF export are different operations.
Original lab PDFs are parsed in the browser. Saved patient records remain in an encrypted on-device library under patient codes. Exporting a practitioner or patient PDF sends the report contents to SomaVue's server and Browserless for rendering; SomaVue does not store the report contents.
Use patient codes and keep identifying details out of report notes. Account and billing information, plus a clinic branding profile when provided, are handled separately. Read the Privacy Policy for the full description and BAA limitations.
Use the evidence. Keep the judgment.
SomaVue is an educational reference tool, not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat, mitigate, or prevent disease. It is not an emergency triage service; urgent or critical results require appropriate clinical assessment.
See the practitioner walkthrough Browse the marker library