Pharmaceutical Dosing App

Overview

This app is an interactive computer simulation that can be used to design the best dosage of two pharmaceuticals for reducing high blood pressure. The app uses concepts from chemical engineering and tools from mathematics, pharmacology, and computational science to describe and solve the the dynamics of the chemical reactions in the human body involved in the absorption, metabolism, and excretion of the drug and how the blood pressure-regulating homone angiotensin II (Ang II) is affected by the drug concentration as a function of time. The model solved in the software is a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model for ACE inhibitors that reduce the levels of Ang II in the body to lower blood pressure. A novel feature of the model is the incoporation of normal and impaired renal function patient data and scenarios. This is important given the prevalence of using this class of pharmaceuticals for treating chronic kidney disease in addition to high blood pressure.

Target Audience

This software is intended to be used by engineering educators working with college freshmen or high school students and by researchers investigating pharmaceuticals to reduce Ang II with ACE inhibitors in hypertension and chronic kidney disease.

Link to MATLAB file: click to go to download page

The files included here are for use in the UB Chem-E-Camp and OSU CEAT Summer Bridge Program for the Chemical Engineering Design Project led by Dr. Ford Versypt. All resources were developed with the assistance of undergraduate CHE students Grace Harrell and Alexandra McPeak in 2015-2016 and Carley Eastep in 2016-2017.

• The powerpoint files are included for teaching purposes. The Poster_Layout_Desing.pptx is a template for student presentations using figures generated from the MATLAB app.

• The .mlappinstall file is like a zip file that opens and installs the app in MATLAB and creates a menu button for running the app in the future.

Related educational publications:

G. K. Harrell, A. N. McPeak, and A. N. Ford Versypt, “A Pharmacokinetic Simulation-Based Module to Introduce Mass Balances and Chemical Engineering Design Concepts to Engineering Freshmen,” Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, 2017. https://peer.asee.org/27493

C. V. Eastep, G. K. Harrell, A. N. McPeak, and A. N. Ford Versypt, “A MATLAB App to Introduce Chemical Engineering Design Concepts to Engineering Freshmen through a Pharmaceutical Dosing Case Study,” Chemical Engineering Education, 53(2), 85–90, 2019. https://journals.flvc.org/cee/article/view/106668

Editable open-source software:

PKPD model for ACE inhibition with benazapril or cilazapril; educational drug dosing app for treatment of high blood pressure

Software on GitHub: https://github.com/ashleefv/ACEInhibPKPD

Software on MATLAB Central File Exchange: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/61167-ashleefv-aceinhibpkpd

A. N. Ford Versypt, G. K. Harrell, A. N. McPeak, (2017). ACEInhibPKPD: An open-source MATLAB app for a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model of ACE inhibition. Journal of Open Source Software, 2(17), 340, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.00340

Related scientific publication:

A. N. Ford Versypt, G. K. Harrell, and A. N. McPeak, “A Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Model of ACE Inhibition of the Renin-Angiotensin System for Normal and Impaired Renal Function,” Computers & Chemical Engineering, 104, 311–322, 2017 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2017.03.027

(c) Ashlee N. Ford Versypt, 2025