ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

FUNCTIONS OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

• Oversees gas exchanges between the blood and external environment

• Exchange of gasses takes place within the lungs in the alveoli
• Passageways to the lungs purify, warm, and humidify the incoming air

NOSE

• The only externally visible part of the respiratory system

• Air enters the nose through the external nares (nostrils)
• The interior of the nose consist of a nasal cavity divided by a nasal septum.

ANATOMY OF THE NASAL CAVITY

• Olfactory receptors are located in the mucosa on the superior surface

• The rest of the cavity is lined with respiratory mucosa
➢ Moistens air
➢ Traps incoming foreign particles

ANATOMY OF THE NASAL CAVITY

• Lateral walls have projections called conhae

➢ Increases surface area
➢ Increase air turbulence within the nasal cavity
• The nasal cavity is separated from the oral cavity by the palate
➢ Anterior hard palate (bone)
➢ Posterior soft palate (muscle)

PARANASAL SINUSES

• Cavities within bones surrounding the nasal cavity

➢ Frontal bone
➢ Sphenoid bone
➢ Ethmoid bone
➢ Maxillary bone
• Functions of the sinuses
➢ Lightens the skull
➢ Acts as resonance chambers for speech
➢ Produce mucus that drains into the nasal cavity

PHARYNX (THROAT)

• Muscular passage from nasal cavity to larynx

➢ Nasopharynx- superior region behind nasal cavity
➢ Oropharynx- middle region behind mouth
 ➢ Laryngopharynx- inferior region attached to larynx
• the oropharynx and laryngopharynx are common passageway for air and food

STRUCTURES OF THE PHARYNX

• Auditory tubes enter the nasopharynx
• Tonsils of the pharynx
➢ Pharyngeal tonsil(adenoids)in the nasopharynx
➢ Palatine tonsils in the orophaynx
➢ Lingual tonsils at the base of the tongue

LARYNX (VOICE BOX)

• Routes air and food into proper channels

• Plays a role in speech
• Made of eight rigid hyaline cartilages and a spoon-shaped flap of elastic cartilage
(epiglottis)
• Thyroid cartilage
➢ Largest hyaline cartilage
➢ Protrudes anteriorly( Adam’s apple)
• Epiglottis
➢ Superior opening of the larynx
➢ Routes food to the larynx and air toward the trachea
Trachea

• fairly rigid because its walls are reinforced with c-shaped rings or hyaline cartilage.
• Open parts of the rings about the esophagus allow it to expand anteriorly when we
swallow
• Support the trachea walls and keep it patent or open in spite of the pressure
changes that occur during breathing.

PRIMARY BRONCHI

• Formed by division of the trachea

• Enters the lung at the hilus (medial depression)
• Right bronchus is wider, shorter, and straighter than left
• Bronchi subdivide into smaller and smaller branches

LUNGS

• Occupy most of the thoracic cavity

• Apex is near the clavicle (superior portion)
• Base rests on the diaphragm(inferior portion)
• Each lung is divided into lobes by fissures
• Left lung- two lobes
• Right lung- three lobes

BRONCHIOLES

• Smallest branches of the bronchi

• All but the smallest branches have reinforcing cartilage
• Terminal bronchioles end in alveoli

ALVEOLI

• Gas exchange takes place place with the alveoli in the respiratory
membrane

MECHANICS OF BREATHING

• Inspiration- flow of air into lung

• Expiration- air leaving lung
 •

NEURAL REGULATION OF RESPIRATION

• Activity of respiratory muscles is transmitted to the brain by the phrenic and

intercostals nerves
• Neural centers that control rate and depth are located in the medulla
• The pons appears to smooth out respiratory rate
• Normal respiratory rate (eupnea) is 12-15 respirations per minute
• Hypernia is increased respiratory rate often due to extra oxygen needs.

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BLOOD

FUNCTIONS OF BLOOD

1.TRANSPORT OF RESPIRATORY GASES:

Blood transports oxygen from lungs to tissues and carbon dioxide from the tissues to
lungs.

2.TRANSPORT OF NUTRIENTS:

Blood conveys absorbed food materials, glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins
and electrolytes from gastrointestinal mucosa to the tissues for utilization and storage.

3.TRANSPORT OF METABOLIC WASTE PRODUCTS:

Blood transports the metabolic waste products eg. urea, uric acid, Creatinine to
kidney, skin and intestine for their removal.

4.REGULATION OB BODY pH:

The blood helps in the regulation of body pH (between pH 7.35 – 7.45) by its
buffering action.

5.REGULATION OF BODY TEMPERATURE:

Regulation of body temperature

6.BLOOD COAGULATION:

Blood protects against its excessive loss from a wound by blood coagulation

7.PLASMA PROTEIN FUNCTIONS:

Acts as a reservoir of proteins.

8.Exerts the osmotic pressure which influences of fluid between blood and tissues.

9.TRANSPORT OF HORMONES:

Blood transport hormones from the endocrine glands to the other part s of the body
where they act.

RED BLOOD CELLS

•Red blood cells carry oxygen to body tissues and remove carbon dioxide.

•they are red because they contain a protein called hemoglobin that is red in color.

•Red blood cells are round and thinner in the middle, like a balloon that is partly filled
with water. This lets them squeeze through tiny blood vessels without breaking.

leukocyte,WBC

•Morphology : courlorless circular cell, has nucleus.

•Classification:

Granulocyte: neutrophil, eosinophil, basophil

Agranulocyte: Lymphocyte,monocyte

•Functions: Involves in the body’s defense and immune.

PLATELETS

•If a blood vessel is cut, platelets stick to the edges of the cut and to one another,
forming a plug that stops bleeding.

•They then release chemicals that react with fibrinogen and other clotting proteins,
leading to the formation of a blood clot.

•The blood vessel can then heal over the cut area.

PLASMA

•Plasma is the liquid part of your blood in which red cells and platelets float.

•Plasma is mostly water, but the proteins it contains are necessary for life.

•Some of of these proteins are clotting proteins.