Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
General
Q: What is Calc-o-mycin? A: Calc-o-mycin is an intelligent web application designed to assist healthcare professionals in understanding and optimizing antibiotic dosing. It combines a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) simulator with an AI-powered chatbot and administrative controls to provide a comprehensive tool for educational and informational purposes.
Q: Is this application intended for clinical use? A: No. This application is a demonstration tool and is NOT intended for actual medical decisions, diagnosis, or treatment. The simulations and AI-generated content are based on simplified models and may not reflect clinical reality. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional and refer to to official clinical guidelines for patient care. This application is for educational and informational purposes only.
Simulator Page
Q: What does the PK/PD Simulator do? A: The simulator allows you to model how an antibiotic's concentration changes in a patient's body over time based on a specific dosing regimen. You can input patient data (like weight, age, and renal function) and a dosing regimen (drug, dose, and interval) to see a visual representation of the drug's concentration curve.
Q: How do I interpret the "Concentration-Time Curve" chart? A: This chart plots the simulated drug concentration (in mg/L) on the y-axis against time (in hours) on the x-axis. It shows how the drug level rises after a dose and falls as the body clears it. The green and red dashed lines represent the therapeutic range (minimum effective concentration and potential toxic concentration, respectively). The goal is often to keep the drug concentration within this range.
Q: What is the "Patient vs. Population" chart for? A: This bar chart compares the patient's calculated pharmacokinetic parameters (Volume of Distribution and Clearance) to the average values for a typical population. This helps visualize why a patient might need a different dose than standard—for example, if their drug clearance is much higher or lower than average.
Q: What is the "AI Dosing Analysis"? A: After you run a simulation, the application sends the results to an AI model for analysis. The AI provides a brief interpretation of whether the simulated drug levels are adequate and offers a suggestion for potential dose or interval adjustments to better meet therapeutic goals.
Digital Twins & Simulation History
Q: What is a "Digital Twin"? A: In Calc-o-mycin, a "Digital Twin" represents a single patient case. When you run and save your first simulation for a patient, you create a Digital Twin, identified by a unique Case ID. Every subsequent simulation you save for that same patient is added to this twin's timeline. This allows you to track the patient's entire dosing history in one place.
Q: How do Digital Twins become more accurate? A: The model becomes progressively more accurate when you provide real-world data. If you input a measured drug concentration (a TDM level, like a trough), the simulator calculates patient-specific PK parameters (Vd, CL). Saving this simulation updates the Digital Twin with these more accurate, individualized parameters, making future simulations for that patient more precise than those based on population averages.
Q: What is the "Digital Twins" Page? A: This page shows all your active patient cases (Digital Twins). From here, you can quickly recall a patient's latest simulation state back into the simulator to continue your analysis or make adjustments. You can also "archive" a Digital Twin when the case is no longer active.
Q: What is the "Simulation History" Page? A: This page is where your archived Digital Twins are stored. It allows you to review the complete simulation history for past patient cases. You can still recall any specific simulation from an archived twin back into the simulator for review or analysis.
Formulation Scanner Page
Q: What does the Formulation Scanner do? A: The Formulation Scanner is designed to use your device's camera to capture an image of an antibiotic vial or packaging. It aims to extract relevant information like the drug name, concentration, and volume directly from the image.
Q: How do I use the Formulation Scanner? A:
- Navigate to the "Scanner" page.
- Grant camera permissions when prompted.
- Position the drug vial within the camera frame.
- Click "Capture Image" to take a picture.
- Click "Analyze" to process the image and attempt to extract information. A: The extracted information will be displayed in the "Scan Results" section. (Note: This feature is currently under development and the analysis is based on mock data.)
Chatbot Page
Q: What can I ask the Chatbot? A: The chatbot, "Calc-o-mycin," is knowledgeable about the general principles of PK/PD and has specific information about the antibiotics listed in the dropdown menu. You can ask it questions about dosing guidelines, pharmacokinetic parameters, therapeutic targets, and more.
Q: How do I use the Chatbot? A:
- Select the antibiotic you are interested in from the dropdown menu.
- Type your question in the message box.
- Press Enter or click the "Send" button.
The chatbot will use its general knowledge base and the specific context for the selected drug to provide a helpful, informative answer.
Account and Institution Management
Q: Why should I create an account? A: Creating an account is required to use the Digital Twin and Simulation History features. It allows you to securely save your work for future review and access advanced features like joining or creating an institution.
Q: What is Institution Management? A: Institution Management allows users to form groups or "institutions" within the application. This feature is intended for collaborative use, such as sharing custom drug formulations or analysis insights among members of a healthcare team or educational group.
Q: How do I join or create an institution? A: Navigate to the "Institution" page after logging in. You can search for existing institutions by name or provide details to set up a new one.
Admin Dashboard
Q: What is the purpose of the Admin Dashboard? A: The Admin Dashboard is a control panel that allows for management of the application's core knowledge and parameters.
Q: What is "Chatbot Context Management"? A: This section allows you to directly view and edit the source text files that the chatbot uses as its knowledge base. If you find information that is outdated or incomplete, you can update it here, and the changes will be reflected in the chatbot's responses.
Q: What is "PK/PD Model Management"? A: This table allows you to modify the key pharmacokinetic parameters (like Vd and Clearance factors) that the simulation engine uses for its calculations. This gives you control over the underlying mathematical model for each antibiotic. Changes saved here are stored locally in your browser and will affect all future simulations.