Blood Vessel Networks

A new mathematical model accurately describes the formation of blood vessel networks, potentially providing a better understanding of vascular networks in living creatures as well as the pathological blood vessel formation that often accompanies certain cancers and other ailments. These images depict the structures that cells form on a growing medium for various initial cell densities, which are consistent with the new model's predictions. Image (a) shows the disconnected patterns that arise when the initial density is only 50 cells/square millimeter. The subsequent images show networks arise as the starting cell density is increased to (b) 100 cells/square millimeter, (c) 200 cells/square millimeter, and (d) 400 cells/square millimeter.

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Associated Physics News Update