Drug delivery control system challenge

The automated control of haemodynamic variables such as cardiac output and mean arterial pressure has been a goal of many research projects. While the design of such drug infusion controllers has often been based upon simplified linear models, the actual validation procedure requires a more comprehensive nonlinear model that is representative of the circulatory system. This phase is in fact often followed by animal experiments. Because of challenges involved in the direct design of controllers suitable for such a representative model, C language code for one such model is now publicly available through World Wide Web and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access. Relevant performance specifications and constraints are presented as guidelines for developing suitable drug infusion controllers