Module 1: Unit 4 – Respiratory 1

00:05
The job of the respiratory system is to take up oxygen for
metabolism, and get rid of carbon dioxide, the byproduct
of metabolism.

The parts of the upper respiratory system are:

First, the mouth and nose, and sinuses. Before we
continue, let’s take a quick look at the sinuses.
00:25
The sinuses are air-filled spaces in the skull, lined with
mucous membranes as is the nose, and connected to the
nasal cavity by small openings. When there is irritation in
the nose, these openings may become blocked, and
pressure builds up painfully in the corresponding sinus.
Sinuses are named after the bones in which they are
found: Frontal, Ethmoid, Sphenoid, and Maxillary.
Interestingly, no one agrees on why we have sinuses,
since they don’t seem to do us much good.
00:58
The pharynx lies behind the nose and mouth; it’s the
passageway for both air and food. This creates an
occasional problem, as all of us know: food or drink can
accidentally go down the wrong pipe. To prevent this, we
have a strong flap called the epiglottis; when we swallow
food or drink, the top of the windpipe, or glottis, rises and
the epiglottis closes down over it, so the food goes into
the esophagus behind the windpipe, not into your lungs.
If you hold your windpipe gently and swallow, you can
feel it move up.
   

1 Created  for  Mini  Medical  School  by  JJ  Cohen  2013    

Creative  Commons  Attribution-­‐Noncommercial-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  License    
 
  
01:32
Moving down the windpipe, or trachea, we pass the
larynx, or voice box, which contains the vocal cords. We
tighten these tissue folds and control our breathing to
make them vibrate and generate the basic tones that our
mouths turn into speech and song. The trachea has strong
rings made of cartilage that keep it open at all times.

In the chest the trachea divides into right and left bronchi.
Note that the right main bronchus is more in line with the
trachea than the left one, which has to dodge around the
heart; so if you accidentally get something in a bronchus,
it’s more likely to end up on the right. Then the doctor
may need a bronchoscope to get it out again. The bronchi
break up into smaller and smaller bronchi and then
bronchioles; it’s said there are 18 levels of branching.
02:25
The lungs are divided into three lobes on the right, and
two on the left (the heart takes up space that a third lobe
would need on the left.) At the ends of the smallest
bronchioles are the alveoli, or air sacs. This are formed of
a single layer of thin cells, woven through with
capillaries. It’s between these capillaries and the alveoli
that exchange of gasses takes place, and oxygen is taken
up while carbon dioxide is released. In the special case of
the lungs, blood arriving from the right side of the heart
is depleted of oxygen (so it’s relatively blue) while blood
returning to the heart from the lungs is oxygenated, and,
therefore, redder. These colors have to do with the
amount of oxygen loaded onto the carrier protein,
hemoglobin, in the red blood cells.

Note that the lungs sit on the broad muscular membrane

called the diaphragm, which separates the chest cavity
from the abdominal cavity below.
   

2 Created  for  Mini  Medical  School  by  JJ  Cohen  2013    

Creative  Commons  Attribution-­‐Noncommercial-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  License    
 
  
03:25
Here’s what the lung tissue actually looks like in a very
thin cross-section; you can see the alveoli, a small
bronchus or bronchiole, arteries and the thinner-walled
veins. If you added up the surface areas of all 300 million
alveoli, it’s said, it would be about equal to a nice one-
  bedroom apartment.

03:51
The lungs sit in a membrane-lined compartment called
the pleural cavity; it’s bounded by the ribcage and the
diaphragm. The ribcage is expandable by the strong
muscles between the ribs; it can move because the ribs
are attached to the breastbone by flexible cartilage. In
  addition, the diaphragm contracts and flattens, which also
increases the size of the pleural cavity; air must rush in to
the lungs to prevent a vacuum. When we finish inhaling,
we relax rib and diaphragm muscles, and the pleural
cavity deflates by elastic recoil of its structures. A normal
adult inhales about 500 mL at a time, and breathes 14-20
times per minute. During exercise, of course, these
numbers can be greatly increased.
   

3 Created  for  Mini  Medical  School  by  JJ  Cohen  2013    

Creative  Commons  Attribution-­‐Noncommercial-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  License    
 
  
04:38
And in case you’ve forgotten, here’s how the process
looks. Ribcage and diaphragm, working together.

4 Created  for  Mini  Medical  School  by  JJ  Cohen  2013    

Creative  Commons  Attribution-­‐Noncommercial-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  License    
 
  
Nose, mouth, sinuses: National Cancer Institute via Wikimedia Commons
Sinuses: Michael Komorniczak CC BY SA 3.0
Larynx: National Cancer Institute; Creator: Alan Hoofring (Illustrator)
Respiratory Anatomy: © Terese Winslow, U.S. Govt. has certain rights
Lung histology: Copyright 2010 Regents of the University of Michigan CC BY NC SA
3.0
Torso and rib cage: Human Anatomy, Dover Publications Inc., 2011 Used with
permission

5 Created  for  Mini  Medical  School  by  JJ  Cohen  2013    

Creative  Commons  Attribution-­‐Noncommercial-­‐Share  Alike  3.0  License