Week Eight - Medical Data Modelling & Simulation Flashcards
Define system identification.
The process of creating a model of a system and estimating the parameters of the model.
What is a quantitative physiological model?
A mathematical representation approximating the behaviour of an actual physiological system.
What are the three most important goals of modelling?
- Generation of new knowledge.
- Prediction of observations.
- Assistance in designing new experiments.
What is important to think about when designing a model?
Model needs to be simple enough to explain the system but not so simple that it becomes meaningless.
What were models of biological systems like before computers?
Oversimplified or involved a great deal of hand calculations.
What is compartmental modelling good for?
Analysing systems of the body characterised by a transfer of solute from one compartment to another.
What are the two basic characteristics of compartmental modelling?
- Conservation of mass.
2. Finite number of variables to describe the whole system.
What is the two-compartment model?
In its simplest form, the human body could be treated as a plasma component and a tissue component.
Why isn’t radioactive glucose used as a tracer in PET?
Glucose is promptly metabolised into water and carbon dioxide, both of which rapidly return to general circulation.
How is FDG different from glucose?
The hydroxyl group on the second carbon atom is replaced by a fluorine atom.
Why is FDG better suited to act as a tracer?
It cannot be further metabolised in cells from FDG-6-PO4 - meaning that it cannot leave the cell before radioactive decay. Therefore good reflection of glucose uptake in the body.
