System and methods for optimized drug delivery and progression of diseased and normal cells

Abstract

Systems for recommending an optimal treatment protocol for a specific individual are disclosed. The systems comprise generally a system model, a plurality of treatment protocols, a system model modifier, wherein said system model is modified by the system model modifier based on parameters specific to the individual; and a selector to select an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols based on the modified system model. Systems embodying the above techniques but for a general patient are also disclosed. Systems for a general patient and an individual for various specific diseases are disclosed. Methods and computer program products embodying the above techniques are also disclosed.

1 . A computer system for recommending an optimal treatment protocol for an individual, said system interfacing with the computer and said system further comprising: 
 a system model;    a treatment protocol generator adapted to generate a plurality of treatment protocols;    a system model modifier, wherein said system model modifier is adapted to modify said system model based on parameters specific to the individual; and    a selector adapted to select an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols based on the modified system model.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the system model further comprises: 
 a biological process model; and    a treatment model that is adapted to model effects of a treatment on said biological process.    
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said biological process model comprises mathematical models for biological processes affecting healthy cell populations and biological processes affecting diseased cell populations with at least one disease.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 3  wherein said healthy cell populations include bone-marrow cells and host tissue cells that are affected by said treatment model.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 3  wherein said diseased cell populations is one of cancer cells, and diseased bone-marrow cells.  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein said treatment model comprises treatment specific processes that affect cell populations.  
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 6  wherein said treatment specific process comprises interactions and associated biological processes involving one of a group consisting of pharmacokinetic interactions and processes, pharmacodynamic interactions and processes, cytostatic interactions and processes, cytotoxic interactions and processes, and methods of affecting cell biology and causing cell death.  
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein, said parameters specific to the individual includes one selected from a group consisting of parameters related to biological process dynamics, patient specific drug pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and dynamics of dose-limiting host tissues.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said parameters related to biological process' dynamics comprise age, weight, gender, blood picture, desired length of treatment protocol, previous reaction to treatment, molecular markers, genetic markers, pathologic specifics and cytologic specifics.  
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the selector is adapted to incorporate user-specific parameters in performing selection.  
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein said selector is adapted to incorporate user-specific parameters by using a fitness function.  
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein said fitness function adapted to incorporate at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of patient survival, time to death, time to reach a specified disease stage, tumor load, pathogen load, cytotoxicity, side effects, quality of life, cost of treatment, and pain.  
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the system is adapted to receive user input for specific coefficients for said at least one parameter and the system is further adapted to adjust the fitness function to satisfy the user's goals.  
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a medical doctor.  
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a scientist.  
   
   
       16 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a drug developer.  
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said system is adapted to consider cytotoxic effects during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said system is adapted to consider drug efficacy during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the selector is adapted to use operation research methods for the selection.  
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the selector further comprises heuristics, said selector being adapted to use the heuristics for searching and selection.  
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 20  wherein, said heuristics comprise computational feasibility.  
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said recommendation comprises a combination of disease and treatment strategy, wherein said treatment strategy includes at least one of types of treatment, device, drug combination, treatment schedule and dosage.  
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, said system is adapted to be implemented over a distributed computing system.  
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the distributed computing system is the Internet.  
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the system is adapted to be used remotely by a user.  
   
   
       26 . A computer system for recommending an optimal treatment protocol for a general patient, said system interfacing with the computer and said system further comprising: 
 a system model;    a treatment protocol generator adapted to generate a plurality of treatment protocols; and    a selector to select an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols based on the system model.    
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the system model further comprises: 
 a biological process model; and    a treatment model that is adapted to model the effects of a treatment on said biological process.    
   
   
       28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein said biological process model comprises mathematical models for biological processes affecting healthy cell populations and biological processes affecting diseased cell populations with at least one disease.  
   
   
       29 . The system of  claim 28  wherein said healthy cell populations include bone-marrow cells and host tissue cells that are affected by said treatment model.  
   
   
       30 . The system of  claim 28  wherein said diseased cell populations is one of cancer cells, and diseased bone-marrow cells.  
   
   
       31 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein said treatment model comprises treatment specific processes that affect cell populations.  
   
   
       32 . The system of  claim 31  wherein said treatment specific process comprises interactions and associated biological processes involving one of a group consisting of pharmacokinetic interactions and processes, pharmacodynamic interactions and processes, cytostatic interactions and processes, cytotoxic interactions and processes, and methods of affecting cell biology and causing cell death.  
   
   
       33 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the selector is adapted to incorporate user-specific parameters in performing selection.  
   
   
       34 . The system of  claim 33  wherein said selector is adapted to incorporate user-specific parameters by using a fitness function.  
   
   
       35 . The system of  claim 34  wherein said fitness function is a function of at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of patient survival, time to death, time to reach a specified disease stage, tumor load, pathogen load, cytotoxicity, side effects, quality of life, cost of treatment and pain.  
   
   
       36 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the system is adapted to receive user input for specific coefficients for said at least one parameter and the system is further adapted to adjust the fitness function to satisfy the user's goals.  
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a medical doctor.  
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a scientist.  
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a drug developer.  
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 26  wherein said system is adapted to consider cytotoxic effects during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       41 . The system of  claim 26  wherein said system is adapted to consider drug efficacy during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       42 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the selector is adapted to use operation research methods for the selection.  
   
   
       43 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the selector further comprises heuristics, said selector being adapted to use the heuristics for searching and selection.  
   
   
       44 . The system of  claim 43  wherein, said heuristics comprise computational feasibility.  
   
   
       45 . The system of  claim 26  wherein said recommendation is a combination of disease and treatment strategy, wherein said treatment strategy includes at least one of types of treatment, device, drug combination, treatment schedule and dosage.  
   
   
       46 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein, said system is adapted to be implemented over a distributed computing system.  
   
   
       47 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the distributed computing system is the Internet.  
   
   
       48 . The system of  claim 46 , wherein the system is adapted to be used remotely by a user.  
   
   
       49 . The system of  claim 48 , wherein the remote system is a telephone  
   
   
       50 . A computer-implemented method of recommending an optimal treatment protocol for an individual comprising: 
 creating a system model;    enumerating a plurality of treatment protocols;    modifying the system model based on parameters specific to the individual;    selecting an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols based on the modified system model and recommending said optimal treatment.    
   
   
       51 . The method of  claim 50  wherein the step of creating the system model further comprises: 
 modelling a biological process; and    modelling effects of a treatment on said biological process.    
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein said modelling of biological processes is done by mathematically modelling biological processes affecting healthy cell populations and mathematically modelling biological processes affecting diseased cell populations with at least one disease.  
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 52  wherein said healthy cell populations include bone-marrow cells and host tissue cells that are affected by said treatment model.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 52  wherein said diseased cell populations is one of cancer cells, and diseased bone-marrow cells.  
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein said treatment models comprise treatment specific processes that affect cell populations.  
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 55  wherein said treatment specific process is interactions and associated biological processes involving one of a group consisting of pharmacokinetic interactions and processes, pharmacodynamic interactions and processes, cytostatic interactions and processes, cytotoxic interactions and processes, and methods of affecting cell biology and causing cell death.  
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 50  wherein, said parameters specific to the individual include one or more selected from a group consisting of parameters related to biological process dynamics, patient specific drug pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and dynamics of dose-limiting host tissues.  
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 57 , wherein said parameters related to biological process' dynamics comprise age, weight, gender, blood picture, desired length of treatment protocol, previous reaction to treatment, molecular markers, genetic markers, pathologic specifics and cytologic specifics.  
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein user-specific parameters are used in selecting the optimal treatment.  
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 59  wherein a fitness function is used to perform the selection.  
   
   
       61 . The method of  claim 60  wherein said fitness function incorporates at least one parameter selected from a group consisting patient survival, time to death, time to reach a specified disease stage, tumor load, pathogen load, cytotoxicity, side effects, quality of life, cost of treatment and pain.  
   
   
       62 . The method of  claim 61 , wherein a user can input specific coefficients for said at least one parameter to adjust the fitness function to satisfy the user's goals.  
   
   
       63 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a medical doctor.  
   
   
       64 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a scientist.  
   
   
       65 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a drug developer.  
   
   
       66 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said system is adapted to consider cytotoxic effects during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       67 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said system is adapted to consider drug efficacy during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       68 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein operation research techniques are used in performing the selection.  
   
   
       69 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein heuristics are used to perform searching and selection.  
   
   
       70 . The method of  claim 69  wherein, said heuristics comprise computational feasibility.  
   
   
       71 . The method of  claim 50  wherein said recommendation is a combination of disease and treatment strategy, wherein said treatment strategy includes at least one of types of treatment, device, drug combination, treatment schedule and dosage.  
   
   
       72 . A computer-implemented method of recommending an optimal treatment protocol for a general patient comprising: 
 creating a system model;    enumerating a plurality of treatment protocols;    selecting an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols based on the modified system model; and    recommending said optimal treatment.    
   
   
       73 . The method of  claim 72  wherein the step of creating the system model further comprises: 
 modelling a biological process; and    modelling effects of a treatment on said biological process.    
   
   
       74 . The method of  claim 73 , wherein said modelling of biological processes is done by mathematically modelling biological processes affecting healthy cell populations and mathematically modelling biological processes affecting diseased cell populations with at least one disease.  
   
   
       75 . The method of  claim 74  wherein said healthy cell populations include bone-marrow cells and host tissue cells that are affected by said treatment model.  
   
   
       76 . The method of  claim 74  wherein said diseased cell populations with at least one disease is one of cancer cells, and diseased bone-marrow cells.  
   
   
       77 . The method of  claim 73 , wherein said treatment models comprise treatment specific processes that affect cell populations.  
   
   
       78 . The method of  claim 77  wherein said treatment specific process is interactions and associated biological processes involving one of a group consisting of pharmacokinetic interactions and processes, pharmacodynamic interactions and processes, cytostatic interactions and processes, cytotoxic interactions and processes, and methods of affecting cell biology and causing cell death.  
   
   
       79 . The method of  claim 72 , wherein user-specific parameters are used in selecting the optimal treatment.  
   
   
       80 . The method of  claim 79  wherein a fitness function is used to perform the selection.  
   
   
       81 . The method of  claim 80  wherein said fitness function incorporates at least one parameter selected from a group consisting of patient survival, time to death, time to reach a specified disease stage, tumor load, pathogen load, cytotoxicity, side effects, quality of life, cost of treatment and pain.  
   
   
       82 . The method of  claim 81 , wherein a user can input specific coefficients for said at least one parameter to adjust the fitness function to satisfy the user's goals.  
   
   
       83 . The method of  claim 79 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a medical doctor.  
   
   
       84 . The method of  claim 79 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a scientist.  
   
   
       85 . The method of  claim 79 , wherein the user-specific parameters are based on a user, said user being a drug developer.  
   
   
       86 . The method of  claim 72  wherein said system is adapted to consider cytotoxic effects during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       87 . The method of  claim 72  wherein said system is adapted to consider drug efficacy during selection of treatment protocols.  
   
   
       88 . The method of  claim 72 , wherein operation research techniques are used in performing the selection.  
   
   
       89 . The method of  claim 72 , wherein heuristics are used to perform searching and selection.  
   
   
       90 . The method of  claim 89  wherein, said heuristics comprise computational feasibility.  
   
   
       91 . The method of  claim 72  wherein said recommendation is a combination of disease and treatment strategy, wherein said treatment strategy includes at least one of types of treatment, device, drug combination, treatment schedule and dosage.  
   
   
       92 . A computer program product, including a computer readable medium, said program product comprising a set of instruction to enable a computer system to aid in recommending an optimal treatment protocol for an individual comprising: 
 a system model code;    treatment protocol generator code for generating a plurality of treatment protocols;    a system model modifier code, wherein said system model code is adapted to modify the system model based on parameters specific to the individual to generate a modified system model code; and    a selector code to select an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols based on the modified system model.    
   
   
       93 . The computer program product of  claim 92  wherein the system model code further comprises: 
 a biological process model code; and    a treatment model code that enables a computer to model the effects of a treatment on the biological process.    
   
   
       94 . A computer program product, including a computer readable medium, said program product comprising a set of instructions to enable a computer system to aid in recommending an optimal treatment protocol for a general patient comprising: 
 a system model code;    treatment protocol generator code for a generating a plurality of treatment protocols; and    a selector code to select an optimal treatment protocol from said plurality of treatment protocols.    
   
   
       95 . The computer program product of  claim 94  wherein the system model code further comprises: 
 a biological process model code; and    a treatment model code that enables a computer to model the effects of a treatment on the biological process.