formula to calculate cardiac output after intravenous indicator dye injection; blood flow in liters per minute is given by dividing the amount of injectant in milligrams by the product of the average dye concentration in the initial curve of the dye concentration sampled at a given point in the circulation and multiplied by the dose of dye (in milligrams) to write the curve from appearance to disappearance (in the absence of any recirculation). SYN: Hamilton-Stewart formula, indicator dilution method, Stewart-Hamilton method.