Optimal Design of Multioutput Sampling Schedules - Software and Applications to Endocrine - Metabolic and Pharmacokinetic Models

This paper describes a program for computing optimal sampling schedules for multiinput-multioutput experiments designed for parameter estimation of physiological systems models. Theory of the algorithm and details of its implementation are given. Practical applications of the software to models of glucose-insulin regulation, ketone body, and insulin kinetics are presented. Results document the potentiality of the software for designing experiments, and show that optimal design can considerably reduce the number of samples withdrawn from a patient in in vivo clinical studies.