title: The determination of mean residence time using statistical moments: is it correct?
abstract: The estimation of mean residence time using statistical moment theory is shown to lead to the true mean residence time only in the case of a concentration-time curve which is a single exponential. In other cases, including the commonly encountered double exponential, there is a systematic error present which can lead to the result being incorrect by as much as a factor of 2. For the case of instantaneous input, an alternative estimation procedure is suggested which gives an estimate much closer to the true mean residence time.
mesh_terms: D008954:Models, Biological; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations