Characterisation of the iterative integral parameter identification method

Parameter identification methods are used to find optimal parameter values to fit models to measured data. The single integral method was defined as a simple and robust parameter identification method. However, the method did not necessarily converge to optimum parameter values. Thus, the iterative integral method (IIM) was developed. IIM will be compared to a proprietary nonlinear-least-squares-based Levenberg–Marquardt parameter identification algorithm using a range of reasonable starting values. Performance is assessed by the rate and accuracy of convergence for an exemplar two parameters insulin pharmacokinetic model, where true values are known a priori. IIM successfully converged to within 1% of the true values in all cases with a median time of 1.23 s (IQR 0.82–1.55 s; range 0.61–3.91 s). The nonlinear-least-squares method failed to converge in 22% of the cases and had a median (successful) convergence time of 3.29 s (IQR 2.04–4.89 s; range 0.42–44.9 s). IIM is a stable and relatively quick parameter identification method that can be applied in a broad variety of model configurations. In contrast to most established methods, IIM is not susceptible to local minima and is thus, starting point and operator independent.