Artery Research

Volume 10, Issue C, June 2015, Pages 1 - 10

Optimality, cost minimization and the design of arterial networks

Authors
Alun D. Hughes
Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
E-mail address: alun.hughes@ucl.ac.uk.
Received 7 January 2015, Accepted 12 January 2015, Available Online 24 February 2015.
DOI
10.1016/j.artres.2015.01.001How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Circulation; Design; Optimality; Shear stress
Abstract

The arterial circulation acts as a network to deliver nutrients and oxygen to cells. The design of the cardiovascular system is subject to a variety of constraints and costs. It has been postulated that the design of the arterial network might be understood in terms of the need to minimize competing ‘costs’ within the context of physical or material limits to the system. These designs can also be envisaged as being subservient to space filling or fractal considerations. The signalling mechanisms underlying these designs remain to be fully characterized although shear stress, wall tensile stress and metabolic stimuli are likely candidates. I will also review evidence that deviations from a minimal cost condition or optimal design may provide both a measure of disease severity and insights into the underlying disease mechanism.

Copyright
© 2015 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

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Journal
Artery Research
Volume-Issue
10 - C
Pages
1 - 10
Publication Date
2015/02/24
ISSN (Online)
1876-4401
ISSN (Print)
1872-9312
DOI
10.1016/j.artres.2015.01.001How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2015 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Alun D. Hughes
PY  - 2015
DA  - 2015/02/24
TI  - Optimality, cost minimization and the design of arterial networks
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - 1
EP  - 10
VL  - 10
IS  - C
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2015.01.001
DO  - 10.1016/j.artres.2015.01.001
ID  - Hughes2015
ER  -