In recent years, a considerable amount of effort has been devoted, both in industry and academia, towards the behavioral modeling, evaluation and prediction of the hypothalamus pituitary thyroid system.
Thyroid Systems Engineering targets an optimal treatment of people suffering from thyroid hormone disorders. The content is motivated by in-depth observations of such patients whose rich data supported the theoretical framework arising from formal mathematical reasoning, guided by the nature of thyroid physiology. Leveraging on the insights emerging from the unique combination of an electrical engineer working with a clinical thyroidologist, and both being scientists skilled in mathematics, the authors introduce this new discipline and field of scientific investigation aptly designated as Thyroid Systems Engineering.
Readers will discover that mathematics can indeed model the behavior of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis. Focused on modeling, each of the eighteen chapters gives the reader a notion of the application of relevant mathematics to pertinent issues encountered in mainstream thyroidology. Many cellular processes resemble the flux of variables and states in a complex multi-parameter space through time analogous to current flow in electrical networks. It is then logical to apply the principles and physical laws of electrodynamics, electrical network theory, control systems theory and signal theory to many of the biological phenomena encountered in endocrinology. Such an approach is used liberally throughout the book and successfully yields elegant solutions to a number of models presented within.
This book can serve as a reference to mathematical modeling in other aspects of endocrine physiology, and as the starting point for a fundamental course in medical modeling. It will appeal to postgraduates in electrical engineering, academic physicians and biomedical researchers. Further, readers equipped with advanced calculus, electrical network theory, control theory and signal theory should be able to follow the mathematical expositions that describe thyrotropic control. They represent a new discipline based on mathematical modeling in physiology applicable to medical diagnostics, measurement and treatment to cooperate in the clinical team and realize an optimized treatment for patients.
Goede, Simon: - Simon Lucas Goede was born in 1948 in Westzaan, The Netherlands. He studied Chemistry at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for two years and received his MSc in micro-electronics engineering from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, in 1979. After mastering the complete scope of advanced mathematics while pursuing his education in nano-electronics engineering, he worked in the micro-electronics and telecommunication industry for 20 years. After his retirement, he studied the endocrine system with respect to the physiology of the thyroid, pancreas, and adrenal glands. He published seven papers related to the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid system based on his knowledge of systems theory. The results of these clinically verifiable publications are applicable to the treatment of patients with thyroid disorders. This holds particularly in those with primary hypothyroidism through the elucidation of their individualized homeostatic euthyroid set points which guide optimized medication dosage. Besides thyroid systems research, the author is involved in modeling the glucose/insulin and the adrenal systems where the same modeling principles have been successfully applied.
Leow, Melvin Khee-Shing: - Melvin Khee Shing Leow is a senior consultant endocrinologist at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, visiting consultant at the Division of Endocrinology at the National University Hospital and the Clinical Trials & Research Unit of Changi General Hospital in Singapore. He is a clinician scientist and is jointly appointed a principal investigator in addition to being the deputy director of the laboratory of the Clinical Nutrition Research Centre located at the Centre for Translational Medicine on the NUS campus. His research focuses on energy metabolism and metabolic physiology including feedback loops regulating the intricate network of the adipose tissue, thyroid, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, liver, and skeletal muscles. His field of interests includes thyroidology, adipocyte biology, diabetes, endocrinologic oncology, and endocrine manifestations of systemic disorders. In addition, he has a deep interest in mathematics for many years and does mathematical modeling of endocrine physiology. Dr. Leow holds academic and teaching appointments including associate professor in the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University, clinical associate professor at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and adjunct associate professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. He is an elected fellow of the American College of Endocrinology, the Academy of Medicine (Singapore), the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Pathologists of London and Dr. Leow is also the President-elect of the Endocrine and Metabolic Society of Singapore (EMSS).
