The arterial pattern and fractal dimension of the dog kidney

Abstract

A method has been developed by which it is possible to measure the fractal dimension of the arterial tree of the kidney. The objective of this work is to determine a method which permits us to discriminate between the architectures of specific organs by reference to a unique number, namely the fractal dimension of the arterial tree of that organ. This method opens the possibility of a new taxonomy for normal organs and for the pathological injuries related to the vascular morphology of those organs. The method that we have devised uses as its input the volume which is taken up by the arterial tree of the kidney. In order to calculate this volume we first obtained a plastic cast (the arteries were filled with Araldite CY233 plastic resin after which the organic tissues were corroded); thereafter we constructed a theoretical arterial tree having the same volume as the renal one. From this simplified tree, we were able to calculate its fractal dimension. The complete process of constmcting the theoretical arterial tree and the subsequent calculation of its fractal dimension was carried out automatically by way of a computer programrne to which we have given the name fractal program.