Distribution networks achieve uniform perfusion through geometric self-organization

Abstract

A generic flow distribution network typically does not deliver its load at a uniform rate across a service area, instead oversupplying regions near the nutrient source while leaving downstream regions undersupplied. In this work we demonstrate how a local adaptive rule coupling tissue growth with nutrient density results in a flow network that self-organizes to deliver nutrients uniformly. This geometric adaptive rule can be generalized and imported to mechanics-based adaptive models to address the effects spatial gradients in nutrients or growth factors in tissues.

6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Robust increase in supply by vessel dilation in globally coupled microvasculature

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Les Houches Lectures on Flow Networks in Biology
• Self-organized homogenization of flow networks
• Resistance distance distribution in large sparse random graphs