VCTS — Virtual Clinical Trial Simulator

Patientcustom

Select from cohortiPick one of the 10,000 AI-generated fake patients. Each has its own genotype, blood levels and parasite load. Choosing a patient resets the values below to that person.

GenotypeiSickle-cell blood type. HbAA = normal · HbAS = carrier (trait) · HbSS = full sickle-cell disease. (Drives the sickle-cell side; the malaria result here depends mainly on blood and parasite levels.)HbSS

HemoglobiniOxygen-carrying protein in the blood (g/dL). Lower = more anemic. Drag LEFT for a sicker, more anemic patient.8.0 g/dL

Baseline parasite leveliMalaria parasites per microlitre of blood at the start. Drag RIGHT for a more severe infection. 0 = no malaria.50,000/µL

TreatmentCoartem

Drug: Artemether-Lumefantrine (Coartem)iThe standard first-line antimalarial (an ACT — artemisinin combination therapy) for uncomplicated falciparum malaria. We don't hard-code the brand — the drug is modelled as a generic Emax drug, and the sliders below ARE its properties (dose, half-life, strength, potency). The default values are tuned to match real artemether-lumefantrine clearance (~24–48 h).

DoseiHow much antimalarial drug is given. Drag RIGHT for a bigger dose = stronger starting effect.100

Drug half-lifeiHow long the drug stays active in the body (days). A LONGER half-life keeps killing parasites for more days, so they clear more reliably.7.0 days

Max kill rateiThe fastest rate the drug can kill parasites (per day) — its raw strength. HIGHER = parasites die faster and clear sooner.8.0/day

Potency (EC50)iDrug amount needed for HALF its maximum effect. Lower EC50 = more potent (works at smaller amounts). Counter-intuitive: drag LEFT for a stronger drug.5

Conditions · Advancedbiology

Simulation lengthiHow many days to simulate — the chart's time axis. Standard malaria follow-up is 28–42 days.42 days

Infection spreadiHow easily a free parasite infects a red blood cell. HIGHER = the untreated infection grows faster and higher.5

Burst sizeiHow many new parasites are released when an infected red cell bursts. HIGHER = faster untreated growth.16

Outcome · 42-day trajectorylog scale

Time to clearanceiHow long until the treated patient's parasites drop below a detectable level. Lower is better. '—' means they never cleared in the simulated window.—not cleared

untreatedtreated