Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine
Volume 8 (2007), Issue 1, Pages 37-49
doi:10.1080/17486700701298293
Original Article

Mean Transit Time and Mean Residence Time for Linear Diffusion–Convection–Reaction Transport System

Jacek Waniewski1,2,3

1Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering PAS, ul. Trojdena 4, Warsaw 02-109, Poland
2Division of Baxter Novum K56, Department of Clinical Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
3Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computation Modelling, Warsaw University, ul. Pawinskiego 5a, Warsaw, Poland

Received 22 May 2006; Revised 13 September 2006; Accepted 15 February 2007

Copyright © 2007 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Characteristic times for transport processes in biological systems may be evaluated as mean transit times (MTTs) (for transit states) or mean residence times (MRT) (for steady states). It is shown in a general framework of a (linear) reaction–diffusion–convection equation that these two times are related. Analytical formulas are also derived to calculate moments of exit time distribution using solutions for a stationary state of the system.