Fractal models of vascular trees: Current status and potential developments

To be realty useful, the fractal models of vascular trees developed in recent years must not only describe the morphology of the trees. They should also quantify and explain their function, measure the efficiency of this function and provide an explanation for the angiogenetic development of the structure/function relationship. This paper summarises the current state of these questions and tries to formulate research approaches for the development of fractal models.