TY - JOUR
T1 - A healthy dose of chaos
T2 - Using fractal frameworks for engineering higher-fidelity biomedical systems
AU - Korolj, Anastasia
AU - Wu, Hau Tieng
AU - Radisic, Milica
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Operating Grants ( MOP-126027 and MOP-137107 ), National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada ( NSERC ) Discovery Grant ( RGPIN 326982-10 ), NSERC-CIHR Collaborative Health Research Grant (CHRP 493737-16 ), and National Institutes of Health Grant 2R01 HL076485 . A.K. was supported by the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral Award (CGS-D). MR was supported by the NSERC Steacie Fellowship and Canada Research Chair.
Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Operating Grants (MOP-126027 and MOP-137107), National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (RGPIN 326982-10), NSERC-CIHR Collaborative Health Research Grant (CHRP 493737-16), and National Institutes of Health Grant 2R01 HL076485. A.K. was supported by the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral Award (CGS-D). MR was supported by the NSERC Steacie Fellowship and Canada Research Chair.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - Optimal levels of chaos and fractality are distinctly associated with physiological health and function in natural systems. Chaos is a type of nonlinear dynamics that tends to exhibit seemingly random structures, whereas fractality is a measure of the extent of organization underlying such structures. Growing bodies of work are demonstrating both the importance of chaotic dynamics for proper function of natural systems, as well as the suitability of fractal mathematics for characterizing these systems. Here, we review how measures of fractality that quantify the dose of chaos may reflect the state of health across various biological systems, including: brain, skeletal muscle, eyes and vision, lungs, kidneys, tumours, cell regulation, skin and wound repair, bone, vasculature, and the heart. We compare how reports of either too little or too much chaos and fractal complexity can be damaging to normal biological function, and suggest that aiming for the healthy dose of chaos may be an effective strategy for various biomedical applications. We also discuss rising examples of the implementation of fractal theory in designing novel materials, biomedical devices, diagnostics, and clinical therapies. Finally, we explain important mathematical concepts of fractals and chaos, such as fractal dimension, criticality, bifurcation, and iteration, and how they are related to biology. Overall, we promote the effectiveness of fractals in characterizing natural systems, and suggest moving towards using fractal frameworks as a basis for the research and development of better tools for the future of biomedical engineering.
AB - Optimal levels of chaos and fractality are distinctly associated with physiological health and function in natural systems. Chaos is a type of nonlinear dynamics that tends to exhibit seemingly random structures, whereas fractality is a measure of the extent of organization underlying such structures. Growing bodies of work are demonstrating both the importance of chaotic dynamics for proper function of natural systems, as well as the suitability of fractal mathematics for characterizing these systems. Here, we review how measures of fractality that quantify the dose of chaos may reflect the state of health across various biological systems, including: brain, skeletal muscle, eyes and vision, lungs, kidneys, tumours, cell regulation, skin and wound repair, bone, vasculature, and the heart. We compare how reports of either too little or too much chaos and fractal complexity can be damaging to normal biological function, and suggest that aiming for the healthy dose of chaos may be an effective strategy for various biomedical applications. We also discuss rising examples of the implementation of fractal theory in designing novel materials, biomedical devices, diagnostics, and clinical therapies. Finally, we explain important mathematical concepts of fractals and chaos, such as fractal dimension, criticality, bifurcation, and iteration, and how they are related to biology. Overall, we promote the effectiveness of fractals in characterizing natural systems, and suggest moving towards using fractal frameworks as a basis for the research and development of better tools for the future of biomedical engineering.
KW - Biomedical engineering
KW - Chaos
KW - Fractals
KW - Health
KW - Pathophysiology
KW - Tissue engineering
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119363
DO - 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119363
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31376747
AN - SCOPUS:85069897199
SN - 0142-9612
VL - 219
JO - Biomaterials
JF - Biomaterials
M1 - 119363
ER -