Multi-compartment model

A multi-compartment model is a type of mathematical model used for describing the way materials or energies are transmitted among the compartments of a system. Often times, this is done when the physical system is too complex to model with a full equation, so it is much easier to discretize the problem and reduce the number of parameters. Each compartment is assumed to be a homogeneous entity within which the entities being modeled are equivalent. A multi-compartment model is classified as a lumped parameters model. Similar to more general mathematical models, multi-compartment models can treat variables as continuous, such as a differential equation, or as discrete, such as a Markov chain. Depending on the system being modeled, they can be treated as stochastic or deterministic.

Multi-compartment models are used in many fields including pharmacokinetics, epidemiology, biomedicine, systems theory, complexity theory, engineering, physics, information science and social science. The circuits systems can be viewed as a multi-compartment model as well. Most commonly, the mathematics of multi-compartment models is simplified to provide only a single parameter—such as concentration—within a compartment.

In Systems Theory

In systems theory, it involves the description of a network whose components are compartments that represent a population of elements that are equivalent with respect to the manner in which they process input signals to the compartment.