On the fractality of the biological tree‐like structures

Abstract

The fractal tree‐like structures can be divided into three classes, according to the value of the similarity dimension D s : D s D , where D is the topological dimension of the embedding space. It is argued that most of the physiological tree‐like structures have D s ≥ D . The notion of the self‐overlapping exponent is introduced to characterise the trees with D s > D . A model of the human blood‐vessel system is proposed. The model is consistent with the processes governing the growth of the blood‐vessels and yields D s = 3.4. The model is used to analyse the transport of passive component by blood.