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The major function of the lungs is gas exchange between the lungs and the blood. [67] The alveolar and pulmonary capillary gases equilibrate across the thin blood–air barrier . [ 34 ] [ 68 ] [ 69 ] This thin membrane (about 0.5 –2 μm thick) is folded into about 300 million alveoli, providing an extremely large surface area (estimates ...
The respiratory system (also respiratory apparatus, ventilatory system) is a biological system consisting of specific organs and structures used for gas exchange in animals and plants. The anatomy and physiology that make this happen varies greatly, depending on the size of the organism, the environment in which it lives and its evolutionary ...
The lungs are the largest organs in the lower respiratory tract. The lungs are suspended within the pleural cavity of the thorax. The pleurae are two thin membranes, one cell layer thick, which surround the lungs. The inner (visceral pleura) covers the lungs and the outer (parietal pleura) lines the inner surface of the chest wall. This ...
The lungs are not capable of inflating themselves, and will expand only when there is an increase in the volume of the thoracic cavity. [6] [7] In humans, as in the other mammals, this is achieved primarily through the contraction of the diaphragm, but also by the contraction of the intercostal muscles which pull the rib cage upwards and outwards as shown in the diagrams on the right. [8]
The trachea (pl.: tracheae or tracheas), also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all animals lungs. The trachea extends from the larynx and branches into the two primary bronchi.
A lobule of the lung enclosed in septa and supplied by a terminal bronchiole that branches into the respiratory bronchioles. Each respiratory bronchiole supplies the alveoli held in each acinus accompanied by a pulmonary artery branch. The pulmonary lobule is the portion of the lung ventilated by one bronchiole.
Pulmonology (/ ˌ p ʌ l m ə ˈ n ɒ l ə dʒ i /, / ˌ p ʊ l m ə ˈ n ɒ l ə dʒ i /, from Latin pulmō, -ōnis "lung" and the Greek suffix -λογία-logía "study of"), pneumology (/ n ʊ ˈ m ɒ l ə dʒ i, n j ʊ-/, built on Greek πνεύμων pneúmōn "lung") or pneumonology [1] (/ n ʊ m ə n ˈ ɒ l ə dʒ i, n j ʊ-/) is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving ...
Inhalation of air, as part of the cycle of breathing, is a vital process for all human life.The process is autonomic (though there are exceptions in some disease states) and does not need conscious control or effort.