Abstract
The natural variability in physiological form and function is herein related to the geometric concept of a fractal. The average dimensions of the branches in the tracheobronchial tree, long thought to be exponential, are shown to be an inverse power law of the generation number modulated by a harmonic variation. A similar functional form is found for the power spectrum of the QRS-complex of the healthy human heart. These results follow from the assumption that the bronchial tree and the cardiac conduction system are fractal forms. The fractal concept provides a mechanism for the morphogenesis of complex structures which are more stable than those generated by classical scaling (i.e., they are more error tolerant).
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West, B.J. Physiology in fractal dimensions: Error tolerance. Ann Biomed Eng 18, 135–149 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02368426
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02368426