Scaling Properties of the Placenta's Arterial Tree

The purpose of the present work is to establish a basic knowledge about the scaling properties of the placenta's arterial tree. For this end we have analysed X-ray angiograms of 22 normal arterial trees by box counting. All the investigated arterial trees scale closely according to a power-law...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of theoretical biology 1998-08, Vol.193 (4), p.731-738
Main Authors: Bergman, Dan L., Ullberg, Ulla
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angiography
Arteries - anatomy & histology
Female
Fractals
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods
Placenta - blood supply
Pregnancy
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Summary:The purpose of the present work is to establish a basic knowledge about the scaling properties of the placenta's arterial tree. For this end we have analysed X-ray angiograms of 22 normal arterial trees by box counting. All the investigated arterial trees scale closely according to a power-law over a one decade wide range of scales. Perfectly self-similar fractals, of the same resolution as our representation of the arterial tree, do not follow a power-law more closely. The result support the hypothesis that a mechanism or rule—as regular as those which dictate the structure of perfectly self-similar fractals—also determines fundamental aspects of the arterial tree's morphology.
ISSN:0022-5193
1095-8541
DOI:10.1006/jtbi.1998.0741