Author/Editor     Sandau, K; Kurz, H
Title     A 2-D model for the growth of arteries
Type     članek
Source     Acta Stereol
Vol. and No.     Letnik 12, št. 2
Publication year     1993
Volume     str. 141-8
Language     eng
Abstract     The study is based on observations of the growth of arteries and capillary networks in the chorioalllantoic membrane (CAM) of incubated chicken eggs. The structure of the capillary layer can be described as a planar, area-filling hexagonal grid, whereas the arteries are seen in a plane underneath the capillary plexus, resembling a bifurcating vessel tree. Further biological observations strongly suggest that the lartger vessels do not form sprouts but that they exclusively originate from capillary proliferation and enlargement. A model for this mechanism of blood vesel formation has been developed and compared with anatomical and physiological data. In a computer simulation, growth of the network is driven by a stoochastic process starting in a point source. The probabilities for the formation of new capillary elements are derived from the flow theorem of Hagen-Poiseuille and the diameter exponent. The hexagonal grid is visiualized as being supperted by a flat limited area, a cylinder, and a sphere. The time coourse of growth and of blood pressure is obtained. The resulting arterial tree in considered to have limited fractal properties, and the dimension of its border is compared with the biological data.
Descriptors     ARTERIES
CAPILLARIES
CHORION
ALLANTOIN
CHICK EMBRYO
BLOOD PRESSURE
COMPUTER SIMULATION
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES