5 MODIFIED NUMERICAL DECONVOLUTION METHODS FOR BIOPHARMACEUTICS AND PHARMACOKINETICS STUDIES

Four improved finite-difference numerical deconvolution methods and on e nonlinear regression numerical deconvolution method are proposed and implemented using IMSL/IDL(TM). These five numerical deconvolution me thods are evaluated using simulated data generated with and without ad ded noise under six different dosing cases. Comparisons between these methods are made in terms of the superimposability of the calculated c umulative amount of drug released or absorbed-time profiles with the t heoretical data. The results indicate that the proposed fixed step num ber equal step length numerical deconvolution method is simple and acc urate and therefore is appropriate for pharmacokinetic and biopharmace utic studies. When an analytic function is legitimate to represent the drug input rate, the nonlinear regression numerical deconvolution met hod will yield enhanced numerical accuracy and stability.