Developmental model of an automatic production of the human bronchial tree based on L-system.
OBJECTIVE
The human lungs exchange air with the external environment via the conducting airways. The application of an anatomically accurate model of the conducting airways can be helpful for simulating gas exchange and fluid distribution throughout the bronchial tree in the lung.


METHODS
In the current study, Lindenmayer system (L-system) has been formulated to generate the bronchial tree structure in a human lung. It has been considered that the structure of the bronchial tree is divided into two main segments: 1) The central airways (from the trachea to segmental bronchi) and 2) the dichotomous structure (from segmental bronchi to terminal bronchioles). Two sets of parametric rewriting rules which can be used to develop central and peripheral airways have been proposed; the first set used to develop central airways consists of seven rules, while the second rule set contains four rules.


RESULTS
The proposed model is capable of generating bronchial tree inside the volume of the host lung; and comparison of the resulting model with those reported in the literature shows that the morphometric characteristics of L-system structure are in good agreement with their corresponding experimental data.


CONCLUSIONS
The resulting model can be used to obtain a mathematical model required for the study of transport phenomena occurring in the lung during respiration.
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Av., Tehran, Iran.
Amirabbas
A
Davoodi
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Av., Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: rbozorgmehry@sharif.edu.
Ramin Bozorgmehry
RB
Boozarjomehry
D001331:Automation; D001980:Bronchi / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008953:Models, Anatomic
Bronchial tree; L-system; Lung; Rewriting rule