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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 lower respiratory tract is also called the respiratory tree or tracheobronchial tree, to describe the branching structure of airways supplying air to the lungs, and includes the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles. [8] trachea. main bronchus (diameter approximately 1 – 1.4 cm in adults) [9] lobar bronchus (diameter approximately 1 cm)
Their function in the respiratory system is to extract oxygen from the atmosphere and transfer it into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere, in a process of gas exchange. Respiration is driven by different muscular systems in different species.
Dorsal respiratory group – in the medulla; Ventral respiratory group – in the medulla; Pneumotaxic center – various nuclei of the pons; Apneustic center – nucleus of the pons; From the respiratory center, the muscles of respiration, in particular the diaphragm, [4] are activated to cause air to move in and out of the lungs.
The breathing of all vertebrates with lungs consists of repetitive cycles of inhalation and exhalation through a highly branched system of tubes or airways which lead from the nose to the alveoli. [4] The number of respiratory cycles per minute is the breathing or respiratory rate, and is one of the four primary vital signs of life. [5]
The cells in the respiratory epithelium are of five main types: a) ciliated cells, b) goblet cells, c) brush cells, d) airway basal cells, and e) small granule cells (NDES) [6] Goblet cells become increasingly fewer further down the respiratory tree until they are absent in the terminal bronchioles; club cells take over their role to some extent here. [7]
Air enters the upper respiratory tract through the nose. The nasal conchae can be seen in this image. The nose is the first organ of the upper respiratory tract in the respiratory system. Its main respiratory function is the supply and conditioning, by warming, moisturising and filtering of particulates of inhaled air. [23]
Mucociliary clearance (MCC), mucociliary transport, or the mucociliary escalator describes the self-clearing mechanism of the airways in the respiratory system. [1] It is one of the two protective processes for the lungs in removing inhaled particles including pathogens before they can reach the delicate tissue of the lungs.