bioavailability
This term is primarily used in pharmacology, toxicology, and medicine to describe the rate and extent to which an active moiety is absorbed and becomes available at the site of action. It is a critical metric for determining dosage; for instance, a drug administered intravenously has 100% bioavailability, whereas oral medications often have lower values due to incomplete absorption or first-pass metabolism in the liver.
As a technical term, it is treated as an uncountable noun. It describes a property or a measurement rather than a discrete object, meaning it does not typically take a plural form in scientific literature.
Meanings
The proportion of a drug or other substance which enters the circulation when introduced into the body and so is able to have an active effect.
The researchers measured the bioavailability of the new oral medication to determine how much of the active ingredient reached the bloodstream.
Examples
The researchers measured the bioavailability of the new oral medication.