Structure of the Airway Flashcards
What is respiration?
Providing oxygen to the body and removing carbon dioxide through inhalation and exhalation
How does your body inhale air?
The contraction and lowering of the diaphragm and raising the ribs
This creates an intra-thoracic pressure
How does your body exhale?
Decreasing the size of the thorax
What must happens to the air before it reaches the lungs?
It must be warmed, filtered and humidified
How is the air warmed, filtered etc?
By passing through vascular mucosa, cilia and mucus
Where are the nasal cavities found?
Above the oral cavity between the two orbits, posterior to the nose and anterior to the nasopharynx
Describe the respiratory epithelium?
At the beginning it pseudostratified, ciliated, columnar, interspersed with goblet cells
What is the nasal spetum?
A midline structure which separates the left and right nasal cavities
What is the septum made from?
Anteriorly- septal cartilage
Posteriorly- Bone
What are the boundaries of the nasal cavities?
Medial- nasal septum
Lateral- Nasal conchae
Floor- Hard and soft palate
Roof- Bone
Where is the sense of smell developed in the nose?
At the caudal end near the frontal bone
Lined by olfactory epithelium
Where is incoming air filtered, humidified and warmed in the nasal cavity?
Conchae
Where are the nasal conchae?
Lateral wall
How many nasal conchae are there?
Superior
Middle
Inferior
What does the structure of nasal conchae allow?
Larger surface area for heat exchange and turbulence
What are meati?
Space behind the nasal conchae
What are important for meati?
They are our entrance point for our sinuses
What is the clearance of the maxillary sinus dependent on?
Ciliary action