Patent ID: 8538774

Claim:
A method for characterizing the probability of a clinical outcome of a subject, comprising: (a) constructing one or more probability spaces with the aid of a computer processor within a computer system that executes a program to construct said one or more probability spaces, wherein a given probability space is defined by a plurality of discrete clinical outcomes, wherein each discrete clinical outcome of said plurality is characterized by a statistical distribution of a set of markers, wherein at least one discrete clinical outcome of said plurality is characterized by a statistical distribution of a set of markers comprising at least one biological marker, and wherein said given probability space is reflective of a medical condition, medical procedure, therapy, clinical trial, drug discovery, or drug development; (b) receiving, with the aid of the computer system, subject data corresponding to the set of markers for each discrete clinical outcome within the given probability space; (c) calculating, with the aid of a computer processor that executes a program to determine the position of the subject data in the given probability space, the position of said subject data in said given probability space based on a position of said subject data within each statistical distribution of said set of markers characterizing each said discrete clinical outcome; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) at multiple time points to determine a velocity or rate of change of said velocity that is indicative of a progression to a given discrete clinical outcome.