Ad
related to: lung location and function
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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 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 ...
A bronchus (/ ˈ b r ɒ ŋ k ə s / BRONG-kəs; pl.: bronchi, / ˈ b r ɒ ŋ k aɪ / BRONG-ky) is a passage or airway in the lower respiratory tract that conducts air into the lungs.The first or primary bronchi to branch from the trachea at the carina are the right main bronchus and the left main bronchus.
The lungs expand and contract during the breathing cycle, drawing air in and out of the lungs. The volume of air moved in or out of the lungs under normal resting circumstances (the resting tidal volume of about 500 ml), and volumes moved during maximally forced inhalation and maximally forced exhalation are measured in humans by spirometry. [12]
The solitary nucleus sends signals to the respiratory center from peripheral chemoreceptors, baroreceptors, and other types of receptors in the lungs in particular the stretch receptors. Thus, the dorsal respiratory group is seen as an integrating center that gives the ventral respiratory group output to modify the breathing rhythm. [4] [5]
The fissures are double folds of pleura that section the lungs and help in their expansion, [6] allowing the lung to ventilate more effectively even if parts of it (usually the basal segments) fail to expand properly due to congestion or consolidation.The function of the visceral pleura is to produce and reabsorb fluid. [7]
Atlas image: lung_carina at the University of Michigan Health System - "Cast of trachea and bronchi, anterior view" (#2) [dead link ] "Trachea and carina — tomogram, coronal plane" at SUNY Downstate Medical Center Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine; Carina tracheae entry in the public domain NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
In humans, the left and right lungs are completely separated by the mediastinum, and there is no communication between their pleural cavities.Therefore, in cases of a unilateral pneumothorax, the contralateral lung will remain functioning normally unless there is a tension pneumothorax, which may shift the mediastinum and the trachea, kink the great vessels, and eventually collapse the ...