Exercises

1.

Consider drug B from the example, assuming that doses are given every three hours, or L=3. Compute the minimum initial dose C₀ that will keep the concentration above the minimum effective level for the first three hours, i.e before the second dose is given.

2.

Consider drug B from the example again, with doses to be given every three hours. Can you find a dose C₀ such that the concentration stays below M=8 and above m=1.8 for at least 48 hours?

3.

Suppose that new research on drug B indicates that the values of M and m should be M=7 and m=2.5. Can you find values of C₀ and L that produce a safe and effective treatment program? Try at least two sets of values of C₀ and L. If your values don't work, then can you suggest a way to change the treatment program to make it safe and effective?

4.

Trials of another drug produced the following data. The concentration just after the drug was administered was 6 mg/ml and 5 hours later the concentration was 2.88 mg/ml. If the maximum safe concentration is 10 mg/ml and the minimum effective concentration is 2 mg/ml, find one set of values of C₀ and L that provide a safe and effective treatment program. Make sure you justify your answers.