Physiology in fractal dimensions: error tolerance.

The natural variability in physiological form and function is herein related to the geometric concept of a fractal. The average dimensions of the branches in the tracheobronchial tree, long thought to be exponential, are shown to be an inverse power law of the generation number modulated by a harmonic variation. A similar functional form is found for the power spectrum of the QRS-complex of the healthy human heart. These results follow from the assumption that the bronchial tree and the cardiac conduction system are fractal forms. The fractal concept provides a mechanism for the morphogenesis of complex structures which are more stable than those generated by classical scaling (i.e., they are more error tolerant).