drug-simulator

Simulate the absorption and elimination of drugs in real time using real pharmacokinetic formulas.

What It Does

The program will display the concentration of the drug at an increasing rate during the absorption phase. The displayed concentration will begin decreasing subsequent to the tmax (time to peak concentration).

Prerequisites

• Terminal supporting ANSI codes

Usage

Firstly, you should display the help menu to list additional options:

$ python3 drug-simulator.py --help

To execute the script in Linux via ./drug-simulator.py, you must add execution perms:

$ chmod +x drug-simulator.py

User Input

Starting the script without arguments will ask for a few prompts about the drug being simulated:

dose:
tmax:
absorption half-life:
half-life:

After the information has been given, the simulation will start.

Optionally, you can use the linearabs option if you prefer not to use absorption half-lives or don't know the value:

$ ./drug-simulator.py --linearabs

Time Units

When entering the time, units are by default set to seconds.
Below are some examples for time units:

1 s, 1 second, 1 seconds
1 h, 1 hour, 1 hours
1 d, 1 day, 1 days

Using a space between time and units are optional, therefor, 1s and 1 second are equivalent.

Arguments

Optionally, you can use arguments prior to the script commencement, e.g.
./drug-simulator.py --dose 60 will skip the dose: prompt because it has already been given as an argument.

Timing

You can start the simulation at a specified time instead of starting once the script starts:

./drug-simulator.py --time "13:00" # initiates the simulation at 1pm
./drug-simulator.py --elapse "1:30" # initiates the simulation 1.5 hours prior to the program commencement

Delayed Release and Lag Time

Within drug-simulator, there is an ability to simulate delayed release drugs, for example, consider Adderall XR, 50% of it releases instantly, while the remaining 50% is intended to release 4 hours later. Furthermore, you can use the lagtime argument which will have a countdown before the absorption phase begins, accounting for the time it takes the administered drug to reach the systemic circulation, e.g. pill ingesting for example.

$ ./drug-simulator.py --lagtime 5m --dr 4h

Another example is coffee, which, on average, contains 80 mg of caffeine per serving.
Research suggests liquids take 2-5 minutes to appear in plasma:

$ ./drug-simulator.py --lagtime 2m

Custom Messages

You can use custom messages at the beginning of the script with the msg argument. This can be used if you have multiple terminals open and want to keep track of what you are simulating:

$ ./drug-simulator.py --msg "anything can go here"

Reading From File

Pharmacokinetic information can be read through a file within the same directory:

$ ./drug-simulator.py --file "pharmacokinetic_example.json"

Note

Adding ".json" is optional

Biphasic Elimination

When a drug is administered intravenously, it has an initial shorter half-life (called distribution or alpha half-life) as it is being distributed throughout the body. Subsequent to pseudo-equilibrium, the longer half-life (called terminal or beta half-life) is used.

Usage example for simulating a bolus i.v. injection:

$ ./drug-simulator.py --tmaxed --t12 0.9m --t12a 0.3m --dist-time 1.5m --dose 1.3mg -p 3

Tip

You may also use "--biphasic" alone, which will prompt for the distribution half-life and time in contrast to using it via arguments.

Contributing

Contributing small code changes such as bug fixes could be acceptable.

If any bugs, inaccuracies, or typos are found, be sure to report them via issues.

See Also

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacokinetics
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3351614/