Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fundamentals
The numerous potential applications of modeling and simulation in the drug discovery process
illustrate that whether the intent is to predict the toxicity of a candidate drug or to streamline the
screening process, the fundamental components and processes are identical. However, as described
here, the drug discovery process also illustrates how there are also domain and implementation-
specific issues, including numeric considerations, selecting the most optimum algorithms for a given
problem, determining which simulation perspective best fits the problem, and hardware
requirements.
Components
Every modeling and simulation system is composed of a model, a database, a simulation engine, and
a visualization engine. The user and some form of feedback device, such as a computer monitor, are
normally considered key elements as well. These components aren't necessarily separate entities as
illustrated in
Figure 9-3
, but may be combined and integrated in various ways. For example, the
model and data may be combined within the simulation engine, or the simulation engine and
visualization engine may be combined. Regardless of how they are represented in a system, each
component is necessary for operation of the simulation.
Figure 9-3. Components of a modeling and simulation system include a
model, database, simulation engine, and visualization engine.
The components of a simulation system typically vary in form, complexity, and completeness, as a
