Respiratory System Flashcards
Functions
Warming, humidification and filtering the air
Smell (olfaction)
Protection and defence
Speech (phonation)
Pulmonary ventilation
Maintains blood pH
Endocrine
Gas exchange
Upper respiratory tract (URT)
From head to neck
URTI - common cold, sinusitis, tonsillitis, laryngitis
Nose
Enters nares (nostrils) to nasal cavity - connnected to several paranasal sinus cavities, lined with mucosal membrane (mucosa) - ciliated columnar epithelial cells
Veins warms air
Glands produce mucus
Mucus - moistens air, traps pathogens, lysozymes
Cilia - move mucus toward back of throat
Pharynx
Back of nasal cavity, down back if mouth and past the entrance to the larynx
Passageway
Warms and humidifies air
Hearing - protects middle ear. Naropharynx - auditory tubes connect middle ear
Protection - lymphoid tissue
Speech - resonance
Larynx
Voice box
Epiglottis - protects lungs by closing
Thyroid cartilage - vocal cords are attached here
Warms and humidifies air
Lower respiratory tract (LRT)
In the thorax
LRTI - bronchitis, bronchiolitis, chest infection, pneumonia
Trachea
Windpipe
C-shaped cartilage - supports and keeps airways open
Lines by columnar ciliated epithelium
Goblet cells
Mucocillary escalator
Warms and humidifies air
Lungs
Cones shaped
Right - 3 lobes
Left - 2 lobes, accommodate the heart in cardiac notch
Alveoli, connective tissue, nerve and capillaries sitting in an elastic matrix of connective tissue
Thoracic cavity
Entrance and exit at the hilum
Pleura and pleural cavity
Sac of serous membrane
Serous - secrets serum; pleural fluid - creates surface tension, lubricates
Visceral pleural
Bronchi and bronchioles
Trachea -> two bronchi
Bronchi -> five or six lobar and segmental bronchi -> bronchioles; spirals of smooth muscle ANS control
Bronchoconstriction
Terminal bronchioles - alveolar ducts and sacs at end
Walls get thinner
Alveoli
Single layer of squamous epithelium
Loos, elastic connective tissue - macrophages, fibroblasts, nerves, BV, lymph vessels
Respiratory membrane - fused wall of alveoli and capillary
Type II pneumocyte (septal) - surfactant, decrease surface tension, prevents collapsing
Divisions in the respiratory system
Structure - URT, division at bottom of larynx and LRT
Function - conducting zone; passage of air and dead space, 150ml. Division at bronchioles. Respiratory zone; gaseous exchange, alveoli
Tracheostomy
Hole into trachea through neck
Treat airway obstruction
Breath via mouth and nose
Speech through speaking valve
Normal sounds
Temporary
Laryngectomy
Removal of the larynx and redirection of trachea
Treat cancer of larynx
Breathes through stoma
Speech not normal
Permanent and irreversible
Breathing musculature
Intercostal muscles - EIM; relaxed and forces inhalation. IIM; forced exhalation
Diaphragm - contraction; increase volume of thorax, drops and flattens. Relaxation; decrease volume of thorax, rises and domed
Pulmonary ventilation
Breathing
Regular and mainly automatic process
Refresh air in alveoli
Rest - inhalation; two seconds, exhalation; three seconds, pause
Boyles law
As volume decreases pressure increases
As volume increases pressure decreases
Pressure is inversely proportional to volume
Air flows down the pressure gradient
Relaxed inhalation
- Diaphragm and EIM contract = rib cage rise
- Thoracic cavity volume increase
- Lung volume increase
- Intrapulmonary pressure decreases
- Air flows into lungs down pressure gradient
Relaxed exhalation
- Diaphragm and EIM relax, ribcage descends
- Thoracic cavity volume decreases
- Lung volume decreases
- Intrapulmonary pressure increases
- Air flows out down the pressure gradient
Ease of breathing - elasticity
Shrink
Lungs ability to return to normal shape after inspiration due to connective tissue
Loss of connective tissue results in disease and forced expiration
Ease of breathing - compliance
Stretch
The effort required to inflate the alveoli
Reduces when surfactant is insufficient
Ease of breathing - airway resistance
More resistance means more effort to inhale and exhale
Airway obstruction - physical e.g. cystic fibrosis, or physiological, e.g. oedema