Respiratory System, in anatomy and physiology, organs that deliver oxygen to the

circulatory system for transport to all body cells. Oxygen is essential for cells, which use this
vital substance to liberate the energy needed for cellular activities. In addition to supplying
oxygen, the respiratory system aids in removing of carbon dioxide, preventing the lethal buildup
of this waste product in body tissues. Day-in and day-out, without the prompt of conscious
thought, the respiratory system carries out its life-sustaining activities. If the respiratory systems
tasks are interrupted for more than a few minutes, serious, irreversible damage to tissues occurs,
followed by the failure of all body systems, and ultimately, death.
While the intake of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide are the primary functions of the
respiratory system, it plays other important roles in the body. The respiratory system helps
regulate the balance of acid and base in tissues, a process crucial for the normal functioning of
cells. It protects the body against disease-causing organisms and toxic substances inhaled with
air. The respiratory system also houses the cells that detect smell, and assists in the production of
sounds for speech.
The respiratory and circulatory systems work together to deliver oxygen to cells and remove
carbon dioxide in a two-phase process called respiration. The first phase of respiration begins
with breathing in, or inhalation. Inhalation brings air from outside the body into the lungs.
Oxygen in the air moves from the lungs through blood vessels to the heart, which pumps the
oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body. Oxygen then moves from the bloodstream into cells,
which completes the first phase of respiration. In the cells, oxygen is used in a separate energyproducing process called cellular respiration, which produces carbon dioxide as a byproduct. The
second phase of respiration begins with the movement of carbon dioxide from the cells to the
bloodstream. The bloodstream carries carbon dioxide to the heart, which pumps the carbon
dioxide-laden blood to the lungs. In the lungs, breathing out, or exhalation, removes carbon
dioxide from the body, thus completing the respiration cycle.
The organs of the respiratory system extend from the nose to the lungs and are divided into the
upper and lower respiratory tracts. The upper respiratory tract consists of the nose and the
pharynx, or throat. The lower respiratory tract includes the larynx, or voice box; the trachea, or
windpipe, which splits into two main branches called bronchi; tiny branches of the bronchi called
bronchioles; and the lungs, a pair of saclike, spongy organs. The nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea,
bronchi, and bronchioles conduct air to and from the lungs. The lungs interact with the
circulatory system to deliver oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
Anatomy of the Nose
The uppermost portion of the human respiratory system,
the nose is a hollow air passage that functions in breathing
and in the sense of smell. The nasal cavity moistens
and warms incoming air, while small hairs
and mucus filter out harmful particles and microorganisms.

The flow of air from outside of the body to the lungs begins with the nose, which is divided into
the left and right nasal passages. The nasal passages are lined with a membrane composed
primarily of one layer of flat, closely packed cells called epithelial cells. Each epithelial cell is
densely fringed with thousands of microscopic cilia, fingerlike extensions of the cells.
Interspersed among the epithelial cells are goblet cells, specialized cells that produce mucus, a
sticky, thick, moist fluid that coats the epithelial cells and the cilia. Numerous tiny blood vessels
called capillaries lie just under the mucous membrane, near the surface of the nasal passages.
While transporting air to the pharynx, the nasal passages play two critical roles: they filter the air
to remove potentially disease-causing particles; and they moisten and warm the air to protect the
structures in the respiratory system.
Filtering prevents airborne bacteria, viruses, other potentially disease-causing substances from
entering the lungs, where they may cause infection. Filtering also eliminates smog and dust
particles, which may clog the narrow air passages in the smallest bronchioles.
1. Coarse hairs found just inside the nostrils of the nose trap airborne particles as they are
inhaled.
2. The particles drop down onto the mucous membrane lining the nasal passages. The cilia
embedded in the mucous membrane wave constantly, creating a current of mucus that
propels the particles out of the nose or downward to the pharynx. In the pharynx, the
mucus is swallowed and passed to the stomach, where the particles are destroyed by
stomach acid. If more particles are in the nasal passages than the cilia can handle, the
particles build up on the mucus and irritate the membrane beneath it. This irritation
triggers a reflex that produces a sneeze to get rid of the polluted air.
3. The nasal passages also moisten and warm air to prevent it from damaging the delicate
membranes of the lung. The mucous membranes of the nasal passages release water
vapor, which moistens the air as it passes over the membranes. As air moves over the
extensive capillaries in the nasal passages, it is warmed by the blood in the capillaries. If
the nose is blocked or stuffy due to a cold or allergies, a person is forced to breathe
through the mouth. This can be potentially harmful to the respiratory system membranes,
since the mouth does not filter, warm, or moisten air.
In addition to their role in the respiratory system, the nasal passages house cells called olfactory
receptors, which are involved in the sense of smell. When chemicals enter the nasal passages,
they contact the olfactory receptors. This triggers the receptors to send a signal to the brain,
which creates the perception of smell.
Air leaves the nasal passages and flows to the pharynx, a short, funnel-shaped tube about 13 cm
(5 in) long that transports air to the larynx. Like the nasal passages, the pharynx is lined with a
protective mucous membrane and ciliated cells that remove impurities from the air. In addition to
serving as an air passage, the pharynx houses the tonsils, lymphatic tissues that contain white
blood cells. The white blood cells attack any disease-causing organisms that escape the hairs,
cilia, and mucus of the nasal passages and pharynx. The tonsils are strategically located to
prevent these organisms from moving further into the body. One tonsil, called the adenoids, is
found high in the rear wall of the pharynx. A pair of tonsils, the palatine tonsils, is located at the
back of the pharynx on either side of the tongue. Another pair, the lingual tonsils, is found deep
in the pharynx at the base of the tongue. In their battles with disease-causing organisms, the
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tonsils sometimes become swollen with infection. When the adenoids are swollen, they block the
flow of air from the nasal passages to the pharynx, and a person must breathe through the mouth.
Several layers of cartilage, a tough and flexible tissue, comprise most of the larynx. A protrusion
in the cartilage called the Adams apple sometimes enlarges in males during puberty, creating a
prominent bulge visible on the neck.
While the primary role of the larynx is to transport air to the trachea, it also serves other
functions. It plays a primary role in producing sound; it prevents food and fluid from entering the
air passage to cause choking; and its mucous membranes and cilia-bearing cells help filter air.
The cilia in the larynx waft airborne particles up toward the pharynx to be swallowed.
Food and fluids from the pharynx usually are prevented from entering the larynx by the
epiglottis, a thin, leaflike tissue. The stem of the leaf attaches to the front and top of the larynx.
When a person is breathing, the epiglottis is held in a vertical position, like an open trap door.
When a person swallows, however, a reflex causes the larynx and the epiglottis to move toward
each other, forming a protective seal, and food and fluids are routed to the esophagus.
Air passes from the larynx into the trachea, a tube about 12 to 15 cm (about 5 to 6 in) long
located just below the larynx. The trachea is formed of 15 to 20 C-shaped rings of cartilage. The
sturdy cartilage rings hold the trachea open, enabling air to pass freely at all times. The open part
of the C-shaped cartilage lies at the back of the trachea, and the ends of the C are connected by
muscle tissue.
The base of the trachea is located a little below where the neck meets the trunk of the body. Here
the trachea branches into two tubes, the left and right bronchi, which deliver air to the left and
right lungs, respectively. Within the lungs, the bronchi branch into smaller tubes called
bronchioles. The trachea, bronchi, and the first few bronchioles contribute to the cleansing
function of the respiratory system, for they, too, are lined with mucous membranes and ciliated
cells that move mucus upward to the pharynx.
The bronchioles divide many more times in the lungs to create an impressive tree with smaller
and smaller branches, some no larger than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) in diameter. These branches deadend into tiny air sacs called alveoli. The alveoli deliver oxygen to the circulatory system and
remove carbon dioxide. Interspersed among the alveoli are numerous macrophages, large white
blood cells that patrol the alveoli and remove foreign substances that have not been filtered out
earlier. The macrophages are the last line of defense of the respiratory system; their presence
helps ensure that the alveoli are protected from infection so that they can carry out their vital
role.
The alveoli number about 150 million per lung and comprise most of the lung tissue. Alveoli
resemble tiny, collapsed balloons with thin elastic walls that expand as air flows into them and
collapse when the air is exhaled. Alveoli are arranged in grapelike clusters, and each cluster is
surrounded by a dense hairnet of tiny, thin-walled capillaries. The alveoli and capillaries are
arranged in such a way that air in the wall of the alveoli is only about 0.1 to 0.2 microns from the
blood in the capillary. Since the concentration of oxygen is much higher in the alveoli than in the
capillaries, the oxygen diffuses from the alveoli to the capillaries. The oxygen flows through the
capillaries to larger vessels, which carry the oxygenated blood to the heart, where it is pumped to
the rest of the body.
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Carbon dioxide that has been dumped into the bloodstream as a waste product from cells
throughout the body flows through the bloodstream to the heart, and then to the alveolar
capillaries. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the capillaries is much higher than in the
alveoli, causing carbon dioxide to diffuse into the alveoli. Exhalation forces the carbon dioxide
back through the respiratory passages and then to the outside of the body.

Human Lungs
In humans the lungs occupy a large portion of the chest cavity from the collarbone down to the diaphragm. The
right lung is divided into three sections, or lobes. The left lung, with a cleft to accommodate the heart, has only two
lobes. The two branches of the trachea, called bronchi, subdivide within the lobes into smaller and smaller air
vessels known as bronchioles. Bronchioles terminate in alveoli, tiny air sacs surrounded by capillaries. When the
alveoli inflate with inhaled air, oxygen diffuses into the blood in the capillaries to be pumped by the heart to the
tissues of the body. At the same time carbon dioxide diffuses out of the blood into the lungs, where it is exhaled.

A person can exert some degree of control over the amount of air inhaled, with some limitations.
To prevent the lungs from bursting from over inflation, specialized cells in the lungs called
stretch receptors measure the volume of air in the lungs. When the volume reaches an unsafe
threshold, the stretch receptors send signals to the respiratory center, which shuts down the
muscles of inhalation and halts the intake of air.

Diaphragm and Respiration

As the diaphragm contracts and moves downward, the pectoralis minor and intercostal muscles
pull the rib cage outward. The chest cavity expands, and air rushes into the lungs through the
trachea to fill the resulting vacuum. When the diaphragm relaxes to its normal, upwardly curving
position, the lungs contract, and air is forced out.

Alveoli

A scanning electron micrograph reveals the tiny sacs known as alveoli

within a section of human lung tissue. Human beings have a thin layer
of about 700 million alveoli within their lungs.
This layer is crucial in the process called respiration,
exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide
with the surrounding blood capillaries.
Photo Researchers, Inc./CNRI

Cancerous Human Lung

This dissection of human lung tissue shows
light-colored cancerous tissue in the center of the photograph.
At bottom center lies the heart. While normal lung tissue
is light pink in color, the tissue surrounding the cancer
is black and airless, the result of a tarlike residue left
by cigarette smoke. Most lung cancer begins in the cells lining
the main air passages, or bronchi. In their cancerous state,
these cells lack the cilia that normally catch and eliminate
foreign particles inhaled into the lung. Mucous ordinarily cleared
by bronchial cilia becomes trapped, blocking air passages.
Lung cancer accounts for the largest percentage of cancer deaths
in the United States, and cigarette smoking is directly responsible
for the majority of these cases.
Phototake NYC/Martin Rotker

Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is one of
two human diseases caused by hantavirus.
Dust containing virus-infected rodent feces becomes
airborne and is inhaled. The virus embeds in the lungs
where the infection begins. Flu like symptoms appear
in about a week, followed by the collection of fluid
and white blood cells in the lungs,
causing respiratory failure, then death.

How Fish Breathe

A fish breathes by absorbing oxygen from the water
it drinks. Water flows into the mouth, through the gills,
and out of the body through gill slits. As water flows
through the gills, the oxygen it contains passes into blood
circulating through gill structures called filaments and
lamellae. At the same time, carbon dioxide in the
fishs bloodstream passes into the water
and is carried out of the body.

Lungless Salamander

Lungless salamanders, such as the one shown here,

breathe through the mucous membrane in the mouth
and throat and through the skin. Moisture is especially
important to lungless salamders, because their skin
must be wet in order to absorb oxygen.
These animals shelter in damp places such as caves
and the bottom of logs, only venturing out when the air
is sufficiently humid.
Animals Animals/Allen Blake Sheldon

The need to take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide is almost universal among organisms. The movement of these
gases between an organism and its environment, called gas exchange, is accomplished in a variety of ways by
different organisms. In one-celled aquatic organisms, such as protozoans, and in seaweeds, sponges, jellyfish, and
other aquatic organisms that are only a few cell layers thick, oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse directly between the
water and cells. Diffusion works for these simple organisms because all cells of the organism are within a few
millimeters of an oxygen source.
Animals with many cell layers cannot rely on diffusion because cells several layers deep in the body would die
before oxygen reached them. As a result, for gas exchange, more-complex animals require special respiratory
organs, such as gills or lungs, in combination with circulatory structures, such as blood, blood vessels, and a heart.
The earliest development of these gas exchange structures is seen in roundworms, microscopic invertebrates
abundant in water and moist soil. In roundworms, oxygen diffuses through the skin into a fluid that fills an internal
cavity. As the worm moves, the fluid sloshes around in the cavity, bringing oxygen into contact with the digestive
system, reproductive organs, and other structures in the cavity. This primitive circulatory system is called an open
circulatory system because the fluid is not contained within vessels. In clams an open circulatory system is
combined with a heart that pumps fluid around the internal cavity. Clams also use gills, thin-walled filaments that
are extensions of the body surface. Gills provide a more extensive surface area for gas exchange than the body
surface alone, enabling clams and larger organisms to obtain the amount of oxygen they need. Fish have gills, a
heart, and a closed circulatory system, one in which blood is transported in vessels by the pumping action of the
heart.
Relatively simple land-dwelling organisms, including some plants, fungi, and animals such as flatworms,
accomplish gas exchange by diffusion. More-complex organisms, however, rely on specialized respiratory
structures. Instead of gills, whose delicate filaments collapse unless supported by water, land animals use lungs.
Located inside the body, lungs are formed by the infolding of membranes. The folds form a single balloon-like sac,
as in amphibians; they may be arranged in stacks, as in the book lungs of spiders; or they are composed of millions
of tiny air sacs, such as the lungs of most mammals. In virtually all vertebrates, a heart and a closed circulatory
system work with the lungs to deliver oxygen and to remove carbon dioxide from cells.
Insects have a unique respiratory system made up of small tubes called tracheae. The tracheae connect all parts of
the body to small openings on the surface of the insect. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are transported through the
tracheae, and from the tracheae to the blood of the insect by diffusion. The blood of most insects is contained in an
open circulatory system and is moved around the internal organs by a heart.
The respiratory system of birds, adapted for flight, is very different from that of land-bound animals. The lungs have
two openings, one for taking in oxygen-filled air; the other for expelling carbon dioxide-laden air. Rather than
ending up in alveoli, the air loops through the lungs so that the oxygen flow through the lungs is continuous. This
design enables birds to obtain the amount of oxygen they need to power the extremely high energy demands of
flight.