Representing temporal information is a recurrent problem for biomedical ontologies. We propose a foundational ontology that combines the so-called three-dimensional and four-dimensional approaches in order to be able to track changes in an individual and to trace his or her medical history. This requires, on the one hand, associating with any representation of an individual the representation of his or her life course and, on the other hand, distinguishing the properties that characterize this individual from those that characterize his or her life course.

The use of eCRFs is now commonplace in clinical research studies. We propose here an ontological model of these forms allowing to describe them, to express their granularity and to link them to the relevant entities of the study in which they are used. It has been developed in a psychiatry project but its generality may allow a wider application.

We present an ontology design pattern for modeling scientific experiments and examinations conducted in a clinical research study. Integrating heterogeneous data into a common ontological model is a challenge, redoubled if we want them to be explored later. In order to facilitate the development of dedicated ontological modules, this design pattern relies on invariants, is centered on the event of the experiment, and keeps the link to the original data.