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Reinflation of the alveoli following exhalation is made easier by the surfactant, which reduces surface tension in the thin fluid lining of the alveoli. The fluid coating is produced by the body in order to facilitate the transfer of gases between blood and alveolar air, and the type II cells are typically found at the blood–air barrier. [19 ...
The process of breathing does not fill the alveoli with atmospheric air during each inhalation (about 350 ml per breath), but the inhaled air is carefully diluted and thoroughly mixed with a large volume of gas (about 2.5 liters in adult humans) known as the functional residual capacity which remains in the lungs after each exhalation, and ...
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 ...
Alveoli are the spherical outcroppings of the respiratory bronchioles. Pulmonary surfactant is a surface-active complex of phospholipids and proteins formed by type II alveolar cells . [ 1 ] The proteins and lipids that make up the surfactant have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions.
The main reason for exhalation is to rid the body of carbon dioxide, which is the waste product of gas exchange in humans. Air is brought into the lungs through inhalation. Diffusion in the alveoli allows for the exchange of O 2 into the pulmonary capillaries and the removal of CO 2 and other gases from the pulmonary capillaries to be exhaled ...
Macrophages in the alveoli are part of the immune system which engulf and digest any inhaled harmful agents. Hair in the nostrils plays a protective role, trapping particulate matter such as dust. [14] These hairs, called vibrissae, are thicker than body hair and effectively block larger particles from entering the respiratory tract.
The lowest part of the lung in relation to gravity is called the dependent region. In the dependent region smaller alveolar volumes mean the alveoli are more compliant (more distensible) and so capable of more oxygen exchange. The apex, though showing a higher oxygen partial pressure, ventilates less efficiently since its compliance is lower ...
Collateral ventilation is a back-up system of alveolar ventilation that can bypass the normal route of airflow when airways are restricted or obstructed. The pathways involved include those between adjacent alveoli ( pores of Kohn ), between bronchioles and alveoli (canals of Lambert), and those between bronchioles (channels of Martin).