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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 ...
The body's circulatory system transports these gases to and from the cells, where cellular respiration takes place. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] 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 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 ...
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.
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.
Ventilation facilitates respiration. Respiration refers to the utilization of oxygen and balancing of carbon dioxide by the body as a whole, or by individual cells in cellular respiration. [1] The most important function of breathing is the supplying of oxygen to the body and balancing of the carbon dioxide levels.