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Cell surfaces and fractal dimensions
Author(s) -
Keough K. M. W.,
Hyam P.,
Pink D. A.,
Quinn B.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1991.tb03163.x
Subject(s) - electron micrographs , fractal dimension , micrograph , perimeter , magnification , fractal , surface (topology) , scale (ratio) , dimension (graph theory) , materials science , electron microscope , chemistry , geometry , crystallography , optics , physics , mathematics , scanning electron microscope , combinatorics , mathematical analysis , quantum mechanics
SUMMARY The perimeters of the surface membranes of some different cell types have been digitized from electron micrographs and the data analysed in order to discover whether the perimeter can be described by a fractal dimension, d f . Micrographs obtained at various magnifications and subsequently enlarged by different amounts have been used. Values of d f ranging from 1.02 to 1.34 were manifested over a scale length of about one order of magnitude. Values of d f were independent of the magnification, and were the same for cells of the same type. Possible implications of these results are discussed.