Identification techniques for the renal function
Betty K. Berkstresser, Souhail El-Asfouri, James R. McConnell, Bayliss C. McInnis · Mathematical Biosciences · 1979
A method which uses compartmental modeling and parameter identification to obtain a measure of the renal function indirectly and simply is presented. The method involves the single injection of a labeled tracer into the blood plasma. Blood plasma samples are taken at intervals following the injection and used with a compartmental model of the renal function. The compartmental model is presented for use with a digital computer to permit the routine fitting of data in the least squares sense in order to determine unknown parameters of the model. The unknown parameters are the rate constants of interchange between the two compartments and the rate constant of renal excretion. Identifiability of the parameters of the model using data from only one compartment is shown, using the concepts of observability and controllability, and results from a parameter identification algorithm are presented.