LACUNARITY AS AN INDICATOR OF SPATIAL GEOMETRY OF THE LARGE HEMISPHERES SUPERFICIAL ARTERIAL BED
The morphological basis of cerebral blood supply disorders can be the uneven distribution of arteries of medium and small caliber on the surface of the cerebral hemispheres, different density of the superficial arterial network in different lobes. Lacunarity is a concept that is different and independent of fractal dimension, which characterizes the presence and size of lacunae (spaces) between the elements of the arterial bed. The use of both the lacunarity index and the fractal dimension will make it possible to clarify and expand the representations and spatial geometry of the superficial arterial bed of the cerebral hemispheres. The purpose of the work was to determine the normal values of the index of lacunarity of the superficial arterial bed of the upper-lateral surface of cerebral hemispheres various lobes, which can be used as a standard in determining of the quantitative characteristics of the fractal geometry of the superficial arterial bed. Material and methods. The lacunarity index was determined for 48 people of both sexes of mature age (29-54 years). The calculation of the lacunarity index included photographing of the superficial arterial bed of the cerebral hemispheres upper-lateral surface using a Nikon3110 reflex camera in lateral projection using a morphometric marker to determine the absolute dimensions of the structures (the SPRuler screen pixel ruler was used as a tool for determining the absolute dimensions), computer processing of digital images in Adobe Photoshop and pixel counting utility ImageMagick. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the MedStat licensed computer program. Results. It was determined that the index of the lacunarity of the superficial arterial bed takes significantly higher values in the frontal lobe compared to the corresponding areas of other lobes, the indicated index in the parietal lobe also turned out to be significantly higher than the same values in the temporal lobe. The indices of the lacunarity index in the parietal and occipital, occipital and temporal lobes did not differ significantly. Conclusion. Multifractal analysis of the superficial arterial bed of the cerebral hemispheres makes it possible to objectively assess the distribution of arteries on the surface of the brain, diagnose perfusion disorders at the preclinical stage, prevent the occurrence of ischemic strokes, and therefore reduce mortality from this formidable condition.