Journal of Applied Physiology Fuel your research with LabChart
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


J Appl Physiol (March 8, 2007). doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00856.2006
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
102/6/2315    most recent
00856.2006v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kamiya, A.
Right arrow Articles by Takahashi, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kamiya, A.
Right arrow Articles by Takahashi, T.
Submitted on August 3, 2006
Accepted on March 2, 2007

Quantitative assessments of morphological and functional properties of biological trees based on their fractal nature

Akira Kamiya1 and Tatsuhisa Takahashi2*

1 Nihon University General Research Center, Tokyo, Japan
2 Mathematical Information Science, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ryushow{at}asahikawa-med.ac.jp.

The branching systems in our body (vascular and bronchial trees) and those in the environment (plant trees and river systems) are characterized by a fractal nature; the self-similarity in the bifurcation pattern. They increase their branch density toward terminals according ot a power function with the exponent called fractal dimension (D). From a stochastic model based on this feature, we formulated the fractal-based integrals to calculate such morphological parameters as aggregated branch length, surface area, and content volume for any given range of radius (r). It was followed by the derivation of branch number and cross-sectional area, by virtue of the logarithmic sectioning of the r axis and of the branch radius-length relation also given by a power function of r with an exponent ({alpha}). These derivatives allowed us to quantify various hydrodynamic parameters of vascular and bronchial trees as fluid conduit systems, including the individual branch flow rate, mean flow velocity, wall shear rate and stress, internal pressure, and circumferential tension. The validity of these expressions was verified by comparing the outcomes with actual data measured in vivo in the vascular beds. From further analyses of the terminal branch number, we found a simple equation relating the exponent (m) of the empirical power law (Murray's so-called cube law) to the other exponents as (m=D+{alpha}). Finally, allometric studies of mammalian vascular trees revealed uniform and scale-independent distributions of terminal arterioles in organs, which afforded an infarct index, reflecting the severity of tissue damage following arterial infarction.







HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 1948 by the American Physiological Society.