LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM MC 1A LEC

FIRST SEMESTER | ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025 |

• Function of the sinuses

FUNCTIONS OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM o Lighten the skull
o Act as resonance chambers for speech
• Oversees gas exchanges (oxygen and carbon dioxide) o Produce mucus that drains into the nasal cavity
between the blood and external environment.
• Exchange of gases takes place within the lungs in the alveoli PHARYNX (TROAT)
(only site of gas exchange, other structures passageways.
• Passageways to the lungs purify, warm, and humidify the • Muscular passage from nasal cavity to larynx
incoming air. • Three regions of the pharynx
• Shares responsibility with cardiovascular system. o Nasopharynx – superior region behind nasal cavity
ORGANS OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM o Oropharynx – middle region behind mouth
o Laryngopharynx – inferior region attached to larynx
• Nose
• The oropharynx and laryngopharynx are common
• Pharynx
passageways for air and food
• Larynx
STRUCTURE OF THE PHARYNX
• Trachea
• Bronchi • Auditory tubes enter the nasopharynx
• Lungs - Alveoli • Tonsils of the pharynx
o Pharyngeal tonsil (adenoids) in the nasopharynx
o Palatine tonsils in the oropharynx
o Lingual tonsils at the base of the tongue
UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT
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)
STRUCTURE OF THE LARYNX
• Thyroid cartilage
o Largest hyaline cartilage
o Protrudes anteriorly (Adam’s apple)
• Epiglottis
ANATOMY OF NASAL CAVITY o Superior opening of the larynx
o Routes food to the larynx and air toward the trachea
• Olfactory receptors are located in the mucosa on the superior • Vocal cords (vocal folds)
surface o Vibrate with expelled air to create sound (speech)
• The rest of the cavity is lined with respiratory mucosa • Glottis – opening between vocal cords
o Moistens air
o Traps incoming foreign particles TRACHEA (WINDPIPE)
• Lateral walls have projections called conchae
o Increases surface area • Connect larynx with bronchi
o Increases air turbulence within the nasal cavity • Lined with ciliated mucosa
• The nasal cavity is separated from the oral cavity by the o Beat continuously in the opposite direction of incoming
palate air
o Anterior hard palate (bone) o Expel mucus loaded with dust and other debris away
o Posterior soft palate (muscle) from lungs
PARANASAL SINUSES • Walls are reinforced with C-shaped hyaline cartilage
• Cavities within bones surrounding the nasal cavity
o Frontal bone PRIMARY BRONCHI
o Sphenoid bone
o Ethmoid bone • Formed by division of the trachea
o Maxillary bone • Enters the lung at the hilus (medial depression)

MC A1 LEC: ANATOMY LECTURE LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 1

 LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM MC 1A LEC

FIRST SEMESTER | ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025 |

• Right bronchus is wider, shorter, and straighter than left ALVEOLI

• Bronchi subdivide into smaller and smaller branches
• Structure of alveoli
LUNGS o Alveolar duct
o Alveolar sac
• Occupy most of the thoracic cavity o Alveolus
o Apex is near the clavicle (superior portion) o Gas exchange
▪ Base rests on the diaphragm (inferior portion)
o Each lung is divided into lobes by fissures
▪ Left lung – two lobes RESPIRATORY MEMBRANE (AIR BLOOD BARRIER)
▪ Right lung – three lobes • Thin squamous epithelial layer lining alveolar walls
• Pulmonary capillaries cover external surfaces of alveoli

COVERINGS OF THE LUNGS

• Pulmonary (visceral) pleura covers the lung surface
• Parietal pleura lines the walls of the thoracic cavity GAS EXCHANGE
• Pleural fluid fills the area between layers of pleura to allow
• Gas crosses the respiratory membrane by diffusion
gliding
o Oxygen enters the blood
o Carbon dioxide enters the alveoli
RESPIRATORY TREE DIVISIONS
• Macrophages add protection
• Surfactant coats gas-exposed alveolar surfaces
• Primary bronchi
• Secondary bronchi EVENTS OF RESPIRATION
• Tertiary bronchi
• Bronchioli
• Pulmonary ventilation – moving air in and out of the lungs
• Terminal bronchioli
• External respiration – gas exchange between pulmonary
BRONCHIOLES blood and alveoli
• Respiratory gas transport – transport of oxygen and carbon
• Smallest branches of the bronchi dioxide via the bloodstream
• All but the smallest branches have reinforcing cartilage • Internal respiration – gas exchange between blood and tissue
• Terminal bronchioles end in alveoli cells in systemic capillaries

MECHANICS OF BREATHING

PULMONARY VENTILATION

• Completely mechanical process

• Depends on volume changes in the thoracic cavity
BRONCHIOLES • Volume changes lead to pressure changes, which lead to the
• Structures flow of gases to equalize pressure
o Respiratory bronchioli • Two phases
o Alveolar duct o Inspiration – flow of air into lung
o Alveoli o Expiration – air leaving lung
o Site of gas exchange

MC A1 LEC: ANATOMY LECTURE LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 2

 LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM MC 1A LEC

FIRST SEMESTER | ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025 |

INSPIRATION • Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV)

o Amount of air that can be taken in forcibly over the tidal
• Diaphragm and intercostal muscles contract
volume
• The size of the thoracic cavity increases
o Usually between 2100 and 3200 ml
• External air is pulled into the lungs due to an increase in
• Expiratory reserve volume (ERV)
intrapulmonary volume
o Amount of air that can be forcibly exhaled
o Approximately 1200 m
• Residual volume
o Air remaining in lung after expiration
o About 1200 m
• Vital capacity
o The total amount of exchangeable air
o Vital capacity = TV + IRV + ERV
o Dead space volume
▪ Air that remains in conducting zone and never
reaches alveoli
EXHALATION ▪ About 150 ml
• Largely a passive process which depends on natural lung • Functional volume
elasticity o Air that actually reaches the respiratory zone
• As muscles relax, air is pushed out of the lungs o Usually about 350 ml
• Forced expiration can occur mostly by contracting internal • Respiratory capacities are measured with a spirometer
intercostal muscles to depress the rib cage
RESPIRATORY CAPACITIES

NON-RESPIRATORY AIR MOVEMENTS

• Can be caused by reflexes or voluntary actions RESPIRATORY SOUNDS

• Examples • Sounds are monitored with a stethoscope
o Cough and sneeze – clears lungs of debris • Bronchial sounds – produced by air rushing through trachea
o Laughing and bronchi
o Crying • Vesicular breathing sounds – soft sounds of air filling alveoli
o Yawn
o Hiccup EXTERNAL RESPIRATION

RESPIRATORY VOLUMES AND CAPACITIES • Oxygen movement into the blood

o The alveoli always has more oxygen than the blood
• Normal breathing moves about 500 ml of air with each breath o Oxygen moves by diffusion towards the area of lower
(tidal volume [TV]) concentration
• Many factors that affect respiratory capacity o Pulmonary capillary blood gains oxygen
o A person’s size • Carbon dioxide movement out of the blood
o Sex o Blood returning from tissues has higher concentrations
o Age of carbon dioxide than air in the alveoli
o Physical condition o Pulmonary capillary blood gives up carbon dioxide
• Residual volume of air – after exhalation, about 1200 ml of air • Blood leaving the lungs is oxygen-rich and carbon dioxide-
remains in the lungs poor

MC A1 LEC: ANATOMY LECTURE LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 3

 LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM MC 1A LEC

FIRST SEMESTER | ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025 |

GAS TRANSPORT IN THE BLOOD NEURAL REGULATION OF RESPIRATION

• Oxygen transport in the blood • Activity of respiratory muscles is transmitted to the brain by
o Inside red blood cells attached to hemoglobin the phrenic and intercostal nerves
(oxyhemoglobin [HbO2]) • Neural centers that control rate and depth are located in the
o A small amount is carried dissolved in the plasma medulla
• Carbon dioxide transport in the blood • The pons appears to smooth out respiratory rate
o Most is transported in the plasma as bicarbonate ion • Normal respiratory rate (eupnea) is 12–15 respirations per
(HCO3–) minute
o A small amount is carried inside red blood cells on • Hypernea is increased respiratory rate often due to extra
hemoglobin, but at different binding sites than those of oxygen needs
oxygen

INTERNAL RESPIRATION

• Exchange of gases between blood and body cells

• An opposite reaction to what occurs in the lungs
o Carbon dioxide diffuses out of tissue to blood
o Oxygen diffuses from blood into tissue

FACTORS INFLUENCING RESPIRATORY RATE AND DEPTH

EXTERNAL RESPIRATION, GAS TRANSPORT AND INTERNAL

RESPIRATION SUMMARY • Physical factors
o Increased body temperature
o Exercise
o Talking
o Coughing
• Volition (conscious control)
• Emotional factors
CHEMICAL FACTORS
• Carbon dioxide levels
o Level of carbon dioxide in the blood is the main
regulatory chemical for respiration
o Increased carbon dioxide increases respiration
o Changes in carbon dioxide act directly on the medulla
oblongata
• Oxygen levels
o Changes in oxygen concentration in the blood are
detected by chemoreceptors in the aorta and carotid
artery
o Information is sent to the medulla oblongata

MC A1 LEC: ANATOMY LECTURE LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 4

 LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM MC 1A LEC

FIRST SEMESTER | ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025 |

PULMONARY DISORDERS: CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY LUNG CANCER

DISEASE (COPD) • Accounts for 1/3 of all cancer deaths in the United States
• Increased incidence associated with smoking
• Exemplified by chronic bronchitis and emphysema • Three common types
• Major causes of death and disability in the United States o Squamous cell carcinoma
o Adenocarcinoma
• Features of these diseases o Small cell carcinoma
o Patients almost always have a history of smoking SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS)
o Labored breathing (dyspnea) becomes progressively
• Apparently healthy infant stops breathing and dies during
more severe
sleep
o Coughing and frequent pulmonary infections are
• Some cases are thought to be a problem of the neural
common
respiratory control center
o Most victims retain carbon dioxide, are hypoxic and
• One third of cases appear to be due to heart rhythm
have respiratory acidosis
abnormalities
o Those infected will ultimately develop respiratory
failure ASTHMA

EMPHYSEMA • Chronic inflamed hypersensitive bronchiole passages

• Response to irritants with dyspnea, coughing, and wheezing
• Alveoli enlarge as adjacent chambers break through
• Chronic inflammation promotes lung fibrosis
• Airways collapse during expiration DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
• Patients use a large amount of energy to exhale
• Overinflation of the lungs leads to a permanently expanded • Lungs are filled with fluid in the fetus
barrel chest • Lungs are not fully inflated with air until two weeks after
• Cyanosis appears late in the disease birth
CHRONIC BRONCHITIS • Surfactant that lowers alveolar surface tension is not
present until late in fetal development and may not be
• Mucosa of the lower respiratory passages becomes severely
present in premature babies
inflamed
• Mucus production increases
• Important birth defects
• Pooled mucus impairs ventilation and gas exchange
o Cystic fibrosis – oversecretion of thickmucus clogs the
• Risk of lung infection increases respiratory system
• Pneumonia is common o Cleft palate
• Hypoxia and cyanosis occur early
AGING EFECTS

COPD • Elasticity of lungs decreases

• Vital capacity decreases
• Blood oxygen levels decrease
• Stimulating effects of carbon dioxide decreases
• More risks of respiratory tract infection

RESPIRATORY RATE CHANGES TRHOUGHOUT LIFE

• Newborns – 40 to 80 respirations per minute

• Infants – 30 respirations per minute
• Age 5 – 25 respirations per minute
• Adults – 12 to 18 respirations per minute
• Rate often increases somewhat with old age

MC A1 LEC: ANATOMY LECTURE LESSON: RESPIRATORY SYSTEM 5