Fractal characteristics of brain vessel microangioarchitecture during the fetal period

Abstract

Background: Studies of human telencephalon during the fetal period are rare. Recent technologies, such as the Pickworth method, ultraviolet, infrared, and computer image systems, now enable the observation of such barely accessible structures. The present study constitutes an evaluation of the microangioarchitecture of brain vessels during the fetal period and the creation of a fractal model to describe it. Studies formulated in the language of fractals have never previously been applied in modeling brain vessels.

Material/methods: We studied 100 brains in the 4th to 8th month of fetal life, using the Pickworth method, computer image analysis under three different systems, the POV-RAY program, and fractal analysis.

Results: The POV-RAY program was used to generate 3-dimensional, tree-like structures. This requires three scaling parameters: length, vessel diameter, and the angle between the branches and the central axis. The vessel structure was modeled by fractals with condensation point. Moreover, these tree-like fractals have different one-sided dimensions. In making fractal models we treated these one-sided dimensions as numerically evaluated parameters of the theory. Of course, the accuracy of the proposed models depends upon the accurate prediction by a fractal of the examined structure.

Conclusions: Brain vessels can be modeled with the help of fractals with condensation points, which have differentiated one-sided dimensions.