Abstract
We apply results from the study of fractal electrodes to diffusion across an irregular passive membrane with finite permeability. Diffusion efficiency is more specially discussed and seems to explain semi-quantitatively the final step of respiratory physiology i.e. the diffusion and capture of oxygen in the acinus region of the lung. We define a “best possible acinus” for which the acinus cut by a plane has a length equal to the ratio of the diffusivity to the membrane permeability. The observed anatomy of the acinus of several animals corresponds roughly to this optimized geometry. This close relation between morphometry and transport parameters like diffusivities and permeabilities could help to understand the design of biological organisms.
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© 1994 Springer Basel AG
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Sapoval, B. (1994). Transfer to and across Irregular Membranes Modelled by Fractal Geometry. In: Nonnenmacher, T.F., Losa, G.A., Weibel, E.R. (eds) Fractals in Biology and Medicine. Mathematics and Biosciences in Interaction. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8501-0_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8501-0_21
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-9652-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-8501-0
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