A swimmer plot displays individual patient timelines as horizontal bars, commonly used in clinical oncology to visualize treatment duration, response events, and disease progression across a study cohort. Each bar represents one patient, typically sorted by treatment duration, with symbols or color changes marking key clinical events such as partial response, complete response, or progressive disease. This plot is standard in clinical trial publications and regulatory submissions for conveying patient-level longitudinal outcomes at a glance.
# anyplot.ai
# swimmer-clinical-timeline: Swimmer Plot for Clinical Trial Timelines
# Library: makie 0.22.10 | Julia 1.11.9
# Quality: 92/100 | Created: 2026-06-08
using CairoMakie
using Colors
using Random
Random.seed!(42)
# Theme tokens
const THEME = get(ENV, "ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
const PAGE_BG = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#FAF8F1" : colorant"#1A1A17"
const ELEVATED_BG = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#FFFDF6" : colorant"#242420"
const INK = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#1A1A17" : colorant"#F0EFE8"
const INK_SOFT = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#4A4A44" : colorant"#B8B7B0"
const INK_MUTED = THEME == "light" ? colorant"#6B6A63" : colorant"#A8A79F"
# Imprint categorical palette — hybrid-v3 canonical order
const IMPRINT_PALETTE = [
colorant"#009E73", # 1 — Arm A / Experimental (brand green)
colorant"#C475FD", # 2 — Arm B / Control (lavender)
colorant"#4467A3", # 3 — Partial Response (blue)
colorant"#BD8233", # 4 — Complete Response (ochre)
colorant"#AE3030", # 5 — Progressive Disease (matte red)
]
const ANYPLOT_AMBER = colorant"#DDCC77" # Adverse Event — warning anchor (outside categorical pool)
# Data: Phase II oncology trial — anti-PD-1 + chemo (Arm A) vs. chemo alone (Arm B)
n_patients = 25
treatment_arms = vcat(fill("Arm A", 13), fill("Arm B", 12))
Random.shuffle!(treatment_arms)
durations = [
treatment_arms[i] == "Arm A" ? 10.0 + rand() * 42.0 : 4.0 + rand() * 28.0
for i in 1:n_patients
]
is_ongoing = [
treatment_arms[i] == "Arm A" ? rand() < 0.46 : rand() < 0.25
for i in 1:n_patients
]
# Sort ascending by duration so longest bar appears at top of chart
perm = sortperm(durations)
durations = durations[perm]
treatment_arms = treatment_arms[perm]
is_ongoing = is_ongoing[perm]
patient_labels = ["PT-$(lpad(p, 3, '0'))" for p in perm]
# Clinical events: (patient_idx, time_weeks, event_type)
event_data = Tuple{Int, Float64, String}[]
for i in 1:n_patients
dur = durations[i]
arm = treatment_arms[i]
# Partial response — earlier in treatment, higher rate in Arm A
if dur > 6.0 && rand() < (arm == "Arm A" ? 0.65 : 0.40)
t = dur * (0.15 + rand() * 0.35)
push!(event_data, (i, t, "partial_response"))
end
# Complete response — sustained duration required, predominantly Arm A
if dur > 22.0 && rand() < (arm == "Arm A" ? 0.38 : 0.10)
t = dur * (0.42 + rand() * 0.28)
push!(event_data, (i, t, "complete_response"))
end
# Progressive disease — usually near end, more common in control arm
if !is_ongoing[i] && rand() < (arm == "Arm B" ? 0.58 : 0.22)
t = min(dur * (0.68 + rand() * 0.28), dur * 0.97)
push!(event_data, (i, t, "progressive_disease"))
end
# Adverse event — random, any patient
if rand() < 0.38
t = dur * (0.08 + rand() * 0.65)
push!(event_data, (i, t, "adverse_event"))
end
end
# Plot
fig = Figure(
size = (1600, 900),
fontsize = 14,
backgroundcolor = PAGE_BG,
)
title_str = "swimmer-clinical-timeline · julia · makie · anyplot.ai"
n_chars = length(title_str)
ratio = n_chars > 67 ? 67 / n_chars : 1.0
title_sz = round(Int, 20 * ratio)
ax = Axis(
fig[1, 1];
title = title_str,
titlesize = title_sz,
titlecolor = INK,
xlabel = "Time on Study (weeks)",
xlabelsize = 13,
xlabelcolor = INK,
xticklabelsize = 11,
yticklabelsize = 10,
xticklabelcolor = INK_SOFT,
yticklabelcolor = INK_SOFT,
xtickcolor = INK_SOFT,
ytickcolor = INK_SOFT,
backgroundcolor = PAGE_BG,
topspinevisible = false,
rightspinevisible = false,
leftspinecolor = INK_SOFT,
bottomspinecolor = INK_SOFT,
xgridvisible = true,
ygridvisible = false,
xgridcolor = RGBAf(INK.r, INK.g, INK.b, 0.12),
yticks = (1:n_patients, patient_labels),
)
# Horizontal bars — one per patient, colored by treatment arm
bar_h = 0.52
for i in 1:n_patients
c = treatment_arms[i] == "Arm A" ? IMPRINT_PALETTE[1] : IMPRINT_PALETTE[2]
poly!(ax, Rect2f(0.0, i - bar_h / 2, durations[i], bar_h);
color = (c, 0.78),
strokewidth = 0.5,
strokecolor = c,
)
end
# Rightward arrows for patients still on treatment at data cutoff
arrow_len = 2.8
for i in 1:n_patients
if is_ongoing[i]
c = treatment_arms[i] == "Arm A" ? IMPRINT_PALETTE[1] : IMPRINT_PALETTE[2]
arrows!(ax, [durations[i]], [Float64(i)], [arrow_len], [0.0];
color = c,
arrowsize = 12,
linewidth = 2.5,
)
end
end
# Event markers — one scatter call per event type
evt_styles = Dict(
"partial_response" => (IMPRINT_PALETTE[3], :utriangle, 13),
"complete_response" => (IMPRINT_PALETTE[4], :star5, 15),
"progressive_disease" => (IMPRINT_PALETTE[5], :dtriangle, 13),
"adverse_event" => (ANYPLOT_AMBER, :xcross, 12),
)
for evt_type in ("partial_response", "complete_response", "progressive_disease", "adverse_event")
subset = filter(e -> e[3] == evt_type, event_data)
isempty(subset) && continue
xs = [e[2] for e in subset]
ys = [Float64(e[1]) for e in subset]
c, mk, sz = evt_styles[evt_type]
scatter!(ax, xs, ys;
color = c,
marker = mk,
markersize = sz,
strokewidth = 1.0,
strokecolor = PAGE_BG,
)
end
# Vertical reference line at week 24 — common Phase II landmark assessment
vlines!(ax, [24.0]; color = (INK_MUTED, 0.45), linestyle = :dash, linewidth = 1.5)
text!(ax, 24.4, n_patients + 0.55; text = "Wk 24", fontsize = 9, color = INK_MUTED, align = (:left, :top))
max_dur = maximum(durations)
xlims!(ax, -0.8, max_dur + 7.0)
ylims!(ax, 0.25, n_patients + 0.75)
# Legend
elem_a = PolyElement(polycolor = (IMPRINT_PALETTE[1], 0.78), polystrokecolor = IMPRINT_PALETTE[1], polystrokewidth = 0.5)
elem_b = PolyElement(polycolor = (IMPRINT_PALETTE[2], 0.78), polystrokecolor = IMPRINT_PALETTE[2], polystrokewidth = 0.5)
elem_pr = MarkerElement(color = IMPRINT_PALETTE[3], marker = :utriangle, markersize = 12, strokecolor = PAGE_BG, strokewidth = 1)
elem_cr = MarkerElement(color = IMPRINT_PALETTE[4], marker = :star5, markersize = 12, strokecolor = PAGE_BG, strokewidth = 1)
elem_pd = MarkerElement(color = IMPRINT_PALETTE[5], marker = :dtriangle, markersize = 12, strokecolor = PAGE_BG, strokewidth = 1)
elem_ae = MarkerElement(color = ANYPLOT_AMBER, marker = :xcross, markersize = 12, strokecolor = PAGE_BG, strokewidth = 1)
Legend(fig[1, 2],
[elem_a, elem_b, elem_pr, elem_cr, elem_pd, elem_ae],
["Arm A — Experimental", "Arm B — Control", "Partial Response", "Complete Response", "Progressive Disease", "Adverse Event"],
"Treatment & Events";
framevisible = true,
framecolor = INK_SOFT,
backgroundcolor = ELEVATED_BG,
labelcolor = INK,
titlecolor = INK,
labelfontsize = 10,
titlefontsize = 11,
patchsize = (22, 14),
rowgap = 4,
)
colsize!(fig.layout, 1, Relative(0.78))
# Save
save("plot-$(THEME).png", fig; px_per_unit = 2)
Runnable source as JSON, for any HTTP client: https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/swimmer-clinical-timeline/makie/code. Any spec id and library id listed in llms-full.txt fit the same URL shape; every URL below is complete and callable.
{
"spec_id": "swimmer-clinical-timeline",
"language": "julia",
"library": "makie",
"page": "https://anyplot.ai/swimmer-clinical-timeline/julia/makie",
"hub": "https://anyplot.ai/swimmer-clinical-timeline",
"code_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/swimmer-clinical-timeline/makie/code",
"spec_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/swimmer-clinical-timeline",
"render_light_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/swimmer-clinical-timeline/julia/makie/plot-light.png",
"render_dark_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/swimmer-clinical-timeline/julia/makie/plot-dark.png",
"quality_score": 92.0,
"license": "MIT",
"guide": "https://anyplot.ai/llms.txt"
}Part of Swimmer Plot for Clinical Trial Timelines on anyplot.ai.