HND in Biomedical Engineering

Anatomy and Human Physiology

Cardiovascular System

Lecture 09

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 Learning Objectives
 Structure and function of the heart
 Structure and function of blood vessels: arteries, veins, capillaries
 Cardiac cycle
 Circulation in the human body (pulmonary, systemic and coronary)
 Physiology of circulation: thermoregulation, exercise, fight/flight response
Cardiovascular System
· A closed system of the heart and blood vessels
· The heart pumps blood
· Blood vessels allow blood to circulate to all parts of the body

· The function of Cardiovascular system is to provide oxygen and

nutrient also remove carbon dioxide and other waste products.
 Blood Vessels
 The five main types of blood vessels are arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and
veins.
 Arteries carry blood away from the heart to other organs. Large, elastic arteries leave
the heart and divide into medium-sized, muscular arteries that branch out into the various
regions of the body. Medium-sized arteries then divide into small arteries, which in turn
divide into still smaller arteries called arterioles
 As the arterioles enter a tissue, they branch into numerous tiny vessels called blood
capillaries or simply capillaries.
 The thin walls of capillaries allow the exchange of substances between the blood and
body tissues. Groups of capillaries within a tissue re - unite to form small veins called
venules. These in turn merge to form progressively larger blood vessels called veins.
 Veins are the blood vessels that convey blood from the tissues back to the heart tissue
outer covering.
Blood Vessels - A network of tubes

 Arteries  arterioles move away from the heart

 Elastic Fibers
 Circular Smooth Muscle

 Capillaries – where gas exchange takes place

 One cell thick
 Serves the Respiratory System

 Veins  Venules moves towards the heart

 Skeletal Muscles contract to force blood back from legs
 One way values
 When they break - varicose veins form
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 Heart
• The heart is relatively small, roughly the same size
as your closed fist. It is about 12 cm (5 in.) long, 9 cm
(3.5 in.) wide at its broadest point, and 6 cm (2.5 in.)
thick, with an average mass of 250 g (8 oz) in adult
females and 300 g(10 oz) in adult males. The heart
rests on the diaphragm, near the midline of the
thoracic cavity.
• The membrane that surrounds and protects the heart is
the pericardium. It confines the heart to its position
in the mediastinum, while allowing sufficient freedom
of movement for vigorous and rapid contraction.

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The Heart: Coverings
· Pericardium – a double serous membrane
· Visceral pericardium
· Next to heart
· Parietal pericardium
· Outside layer
· Serous fluid fills the space between the layers of pericardium

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 The Heart: Heart Wall
Three layers
Epicardium
Outside layer
This layer is the parietal
pericardium
Connective tissue layer
Myocardium
Middle layer
Mostly cardiac muscle
Endocardium
Inner layer
Endothelium
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 Layers of the Heart Wall

• The epicardium is composed of two tissue layers. The outermost, as you just
learned, is called the visceral layer of the serous pericardium. This thin,
transparent outer layer of the heart wall is composed of mesothelium.
• The middle myocardium is responsible for the pumping action of the heart and is
composed of cardiac muscle tissue. It makes up approximately 95% of the heart
wall.
• The innermost endocardium is a thin layer of endothelium overlying a thin layer
of connective tissue. It provides a smooth lining for the chambers of the heart and
covers the valves of the heart.

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Heart

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External Heart Anatomy

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 The Heart: Chambers

· Right and left side act as separate pumps

· Four chambers
· Atria
· Receiving chambers
· Right atrium
· Left atrium
· Ventricles
· Discharging chambers
· Right ventricle
· Left ventricle
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Chambers of Heart
• Right Atrium - The right atrium forms the right surface of the heart and receives blood from
three veins: the superior vena cava, inferior vena cava, and coronary sinus.
• The anterior and posterior walls of the right atrium are very different. The inside of the
posterior wall is smooth; the inside of the anterior wall is rough due to the presence of
muscular ridges called pectinate muscles.
• Blood passes from the right atrium into the right ventricle through a valve that is called the
tricuspid valve because it contains of three cusps.
• Right Ventricle - The right ventricle is about 4–5 mm (0.16–0.2 in.) in average thickness and
forms most of the anterior surface of the heart. The inside of the right ventricle contains a
series of ridges formed by raised bundles of cardiac muscle fibers called trabeculae carneae.
• Blood passes from the right ventricle through the pulmonary valve (pulmonary semilunar
valve) into a large artery called the pulmonary trunk, which divides into right and left
pulmonary arteries and carries blood to the lungs. Arteries always take blood away from the
heart.

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 Chambers of Heart
• Left atrium is about the same thickness as the right atrium and forms most of
the base of the heart. It receives blood from the lungs through four pulmonary
veins. Like the right atrium, the inside of the left atrium has a smooth posterior
wall.
• The pectinate muscles are confined to the auricle of the left atrium, the anterior
wall of the left atrium also is smooth. Blood passes from the left atrium into the
left ventricle through the bicuspid (mitral) valve (bi- = two), which, as its name
implies, has two cusps
• The left ventricle is the thickest chamber of the heart, averaging 10–15 mm
(0.4–0.6 in.), and forms the apex of the heart. Like the right ventricle, the left
ventricle contains trabeculae carneae and has chordae tendineae that anchor the
cusps of the bicuspid valve to papillary muscles. Blood passes from the left
ventricle through the aortic valve.
• Some of the blood in the aorta flows into the coronary arteries, which branch
from the ascending aorta and carry blood to the heart wall.

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 The Heart: Valves
· Allow blood to flow in only one direction
· Four valves
· Atrioventricular valves – between atria and ventricles
· Bicuspid valve (left)
· Tricuspid valve (right)
· Semilunar valves between ventricle and artery
· Pulmonary semilunar valve
· Aortic semilunar valve

· Valves open as blood is pumped through

· Close to prevent backflow
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 Blood Circulation
• Types of circulations;
1. Pulmonary circulation
2. Systemic circulation
3. Coronary circulation

• In postnatal (after birth) circulation, the

heart pumps blood into two closed circuits
with each beat—systemic circulation and
pulmonary circulation. The two circuits
are arranged in series: The output of one
becomes the input of the other as would
happen if you attached two garden hoses.

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Systematic Circulation
• The left side of the heart is the pump for systemic circulation; it receives bright red oxygenated
(oxygen-rich) blood from the lungs.
• The left ventricle ejects blood into the aorta. From the aorta, the blood divides into separate
streams, entering progressively smaller systemic arteries that carry it to all organs throughout
the body—except for the air sacs (alveoli) of the lungs, which are supplied by the pulmonary
circulation.
• In systemic tissues, arteries give rise to smaller-diameter arterioles, which finally lead into
extensive beds of systemic capillaries.
• Exchange of nutrients and gases occurs across the thin capillary walls. Blood unloads O2
(oxygen) and picks up CO2 (carbon dioxide).
• In most cases, blood flows through only one capillary and then enters a systemic venule.
Venules carry deoxygenated (oxygen-poor) blood away from tissues and merge to form larger
systemic veins. Ultimately the blood flows back to the right atrium.

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 Coronary Circulation
• Part of the systemic circulation.
• Supplies blood to and provides drainage from the tissues of the heart.
• Deoxygenated blood is returned to the chambers of the heart via coronary veins;
most of these converge to form the coronary venous sinus, which drains into the
right atrium.

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Pulmonary Circulations
• The right side of the heart is the pump for pulmonary circulation; it
receives all of the dark-red deoxygenated blood returning from the
systemic circulation.
• Blood ejected from the right ventricle flows into the pulmonary
trunk, which branches into pulmonary arteries that carry blood to
the right and left lungs.
• In pulmonary capillaries, blood unloads CO2, which is exhaled,
and picks up O2 from inhaled air. The freshly oxygenated blood
then flows into pulmonary veins and returns to the left atrium.

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 What is an Electrocardiogram?
• The electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) is a graphic display of the
electrical events of the cardiac cycle.
• Each event has a distinctive waveform, the study of which can lead to
greater insight into a patient’s cardiac output.

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ECG Wave Interpretation
P Wave = contraction of atria
PQ Wave = signal arrives at AV node slowing down a bit to allow ventricles
to fill with blood
Q Wave = signal moves to Bundle of His and divides into the bundles and
Purkinje fibers
R Wave = contraction of left ventricle
S Wave = contraction of right ventricle
T Wave = ventricles relaxing

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Electrocardiogram
• Action potentials through myocardium during cardiac cycle produces electric currents
than can be measured
• Pattern
• P wave
• Atria depolarization
• QRS complex
• Ventricle depolarization
• Atria repolarization
• T wave:
• Ventricle repolarization

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 Cardiac Cycle
• The Cardiac Cycle
• Two phases in cardiac cycle
• Systole
• Contraction phase
• Both ventricles simultaneously
• Diastole
• Relaxation phase
· Atria contract simultaneously
· Atria relax, then ventricles contract

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 Cardiac Cycle
• One cardiac cycle – two heart sounds (lubb and dubb) when valves in
the heart snap shut
• Lubb – First sound
• When the ventricles contract, the tricuspid and bicuspid valves
snap shut
• Dubb – Second sound
• When the atria contract and the pulmonary and aortic valves
snap shut

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 Cardiac Cycle
· Cardiac cycle – events of one complete heartbeat
· Mid-to-late diastole – blood flows into ventricles
· Ventricular systole – blood pressure builds before ventricle contracts,
pushing out blood
· Early diastole – atria finish re-filling, ventricular pressure is low

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 Cardiac Cycle
· Cardiac output (CO)
· Amount of blood pumped by each side of the heart in one minute
CO = (Heart Rate [HR]) x (Stroke Volume [SV])

· Stroke volume
· Volume of blood pumped by each ventricle in one contraction

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The Heart: Regulation of Heart Rate
· Stroke volume usually remains relatively constant
· Starling’s law of the heart – the more that the cardiac muscle is
stretched, the stronger the contraction

· Changing heart rate is the most common way to change

cardiac output

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 Homeostasis
• The circulatory system maintains homeostasis by;
• Transporting nutrients around the body
• Picking up wastes to be excreted
• Regulating body temperature
• Sending messages to organs that maintain blood sugar levels and amount
of water in blood.
• Carrying products that fight infection

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 Effects of Aging on the Heart
• Gradual changes in heart function, minor under resting condition, more
significant during exercise
• Hypertrophy of left ventricle
• Maximum heart rate decreases
• Increased tendency for valves to function abnormally and arrhythmias to
occur
• Increased oxygen consumption required to pump same amount of blood

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 Rest/ Repair
• Rest, medication, surgery (coronary bypass, angioplasty) to stop and repair damage
• Physical therapy
• Diets high in fiber (fruits, veggies, whole wheat), low in saturated fat (skim milk, fish)
• Exercise
• Sometimes medication is used to lower blood pressure or cholesterol levels

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THANK YOU!

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