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Fractals in Physiology and Medicine

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Handbook of Systems and Complexity in Health

Abstract

Calculus is a method of reasoning by computation of symbols and in medicine this has traditionally followed the path laid out by the physics of the nineteenth and twentieth century, with its smooth continuous functions and differential equations to make predictions. In the latter part of the twentieth century physical scientists began to look in earnest at complex phenomena and discovered to their surprise that the analytic functions they had touted for so long were not adequate for characterising the variations in any but the simplest of processes. This particular failing was discussed from a statistics perspective in an earlier chapter. It is now time to squarely face the general limitations of the traditional modelling techniques in medicine and address a calculus of medicine that is able to incorporate nonlinearity into its descriptions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

     z n+1  =  z n 2  +  c, where z n and c are complex numbers, z 0  =  0, and c is a point on the plain. The formula is iterated until |z n | (the magnitude of z) is greater than or equal to the bailout value 2.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Practice, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Joachim P. Sturmberg

  2. The Newcastle University, Newcastle, 3010, Wamberal, NSW, 2260, Australia

    Joachim P. Sturmberg

  3. Army Research Office, 4300 S. Miami Blvd., Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA

    Bruce J. West

Authors
  1. Joachim P. Sturmberg
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Correspondence to Joachim P. Sturmberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of General Practice, Monash University, PO Box 3010, Wamberal, 2260, New South Wales, Australia

    Joachim P. Sturmberg

  2. Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1212 222, Chicago, 60654, Illinois, USA

    Carmel M. Martin

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Sturmberg, J.P., West, B.J. (2013). Fractals in Physiology and Medicine. In: Sturmberg, J., Martin, C. (eds) Handbook of Systems and Complexity in Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4998-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4998-0_11

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