A promising new technique for the biomedical industry involves applying computer simulation to the design of clinical trials to help speed results or lower costs. Furthermore, it can process data for thousands of patients quickly. MGA has enhanced ACSL s graphic user interface, making it easier for medical doctors and biostatisticians to define trial-design elements like periodic blood samples, variability between humans, and drug noncompliance. For drug development, the body is broken down into compartments, each described by a set of hydraulic, thermal, and chemical reactions.
Some arms get two or more courses of treatment.
For each course of treatment, the simulationist needs to define a dosing regimen and arrange the sampling that gives the researcher the model data, such as blood pressure, electrocardiogram, or heart rate. The clinician must make sure the study design is likely to give meaningful data when real people are used. Human resources in clinical trial simulation are scarce, and advances are limited by the small number of pioneers in the field. The above was adapted from an article by Dan Deitz, Associate Editor. The full text may be found in the July 1997 issue of Mechanical Engineering magazine.