EFFICIENT DESIGN FOR ESTIMATION OF MEDIAN LETHAL DOSE AND QUANTAL DOSE-RESPONSE CURVES

The results of quantal dose-response experiments are often summarized by an estimate of the ''median lethal dose,'' denoted LD50, and many sequential designs have been proposed for efficient estimation of LD50. These designs strive to produce a sequence of trials at dose levels that get closer and closer to LD50. Consequently, they may not provide very good estimates of the overall shape of the dose-response curve. In this paper we propose guidelines for the design of experiments that estimate LD50 fairly efficiently and that also allow for efficient global estimation of the curve.