Exponentially decaying functions can be successfully introduced as early as high school. However, obtaining the equations for the resulting effect of absorption and elimination of drug processes acting simultaneously, even in simplified models like the single dose case in a one-compartment model with an order 1 kinetic (Bateman equation), requires one to solve a nontrivial differential equation. Therefore, this equation is normally taught to second- or third-year students in the schools of medicine and pharmacy. An alternative approach is presented that uses a computer algebra system to calculate a limit and allows one to bypass the use of differential equations.
['Eugenio Roanes-Lozano', 'Alfonso González-Bermejo', 'Eugenio Roanes-Macías', 'Justo Cabezas']
An Application of Computer Algebra to Pharmacokinetics: The Bateman Equation