Origin of Fractal Branching Complexity in the Lung

ABSTRACT:Fractal and non-fractal theories predict universal designs for biological branching transport networks whereby energy dissipation is minimized. However, they are inadequate to account for adaptation via designs that appear sub-optimal. Therefore we have evaluated another theory in the developing lung which is based on bifurcation design and the principle of self-organized criticality. The latter is a universal physical theory of morphogenesis in branching structures whereby fractal and multifractal patterns of branching complexity self-organize into meta-stable states poised between order and disorder. We find bifurcation design in the lung does not necessary adhere to universal values, but manifests an adaptable complex-valued fractal dimension, with spatial scaling properties implicating structural origins of airway and vascular disease susceptibility

Multifractal Manuscript Preprint by
Stephen H.Bennett
Marlowe W. Eldridge
Carlos E. Puente
Rudolf H. Riedi
Thomas R. Nelson
Boyd W. Goetzman
Jay M. Milstein
Shiam S. Singhal
Keith Horsfield
Michael J. Woldenberg