SPINA
(structure parameter inference approach) is
a method that delivers estimated structure
parameters of endocrine feedback control
systems in vivo from serum or plasma
hormone levels. The algorithm is based on
equilibrium analysis of a compartmental
nonlinear model.
A
first successful implementation applies to
evaluation of thyroid function. It allows
for calculating the thyroid's maximum
secretory capacity (GT or SPINA-GT) and the
sum activity of peripheral 5'-deiodinases
(GD or SPINA-GD) from levels of TSH, (F)T4
and (F)T3 that have been determined once
only (SPINA Thyr).
This
method is increasingly used in experimental
research. SPINA Thyr has been evaluated in clinical trials
covering more than 10,000 subjects with
various disorders of thyroid homeostais.
Additional applications targeting other
endocrine feedback loops are currently being
developed or prepared, respectively.
SPINA
Thyr is a free application that calculates
GT and GD. It is offered on the base of a
BSD licence. Binaries are available for Mac
OS, Mac OS X, Palm OS, Garnet OS and
Windows. For other operating systems,
including Linux, Solaris and BSD, SPINA Thyr
is available as sourcecode. Building from
source requires THINK Pascal (for Mac OS
Classic), winsoft PocketStudio (for Palm OS
/ Garnet OS) or Lazarus/Free Pascal (for Mac
OS X, Windows, Linux, BSD and Solaris). A
special version of the calculation engine is
available for modern S implementation, e.g.
R.