Anatomy and

Physiology of
the
Respiratory
System

Malen M. Gellido, M.D.

LPU – St. Cabrini School of Health Sciences

AY 2021 - 2022
Intended Learning
Outcomes

1. Identify the structures of the

respiratory system (CO1)
2. Explain the physiology (CO1)
3. Explain the pathophysiology
of the system (CO2)
Topics

Anatomy of the Respiratory Physiology of the Pulmonary

System System
1. Nose & Nasal Cavities A. Ventilation and Lung Volumes
2. Pharynx • 1. Phases of Ventilation
3. Larynx • 2. Mechanisms of Ventilation
4. Trachea • 4. Pulmonary volumes and
capacities
5. Bronchi & smaller air passages
B. Gas Exchange
6. Lungs
C. O2 and CO2 transport in the Blood
7. Pleural cavities
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
Respiratory Processes

1. Ventilation or breathing
2. The transport of O2 and CO2 in the blood
3. The exchange of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) between
the air in the lungs and the blood
4. The exchange of O2 and CO2 between the blood and the tissues
Other functions of the
respiratory system

1. Regulation of blood pH.

2. Voice production.
3. Olfaction
4. Innate immunity
Organs of the Pulmonary System
Organs of the Pulmonary System
The Nose
The Nose

• The nasal cavity extends from

the nares to the choanae
• Just inside the nares, the
lining of the cavity is
composed of stratified
squamous epithelium
containing coarse hairs.
• The rest of the nasal cavity is
lined with pseudostratified
columnar epithelial cells
containing cilia and many
mucus-producing goblet cells
 The Nose
• The paranasal sinuses are air-
filled spaces within bone.
• They include the maxillary, frontal,
ethmoidal, and sphenoidal sinuses,
each named for the bones in
which they are located.
• The paranasal sinuses open into
the nasal cavity and are lined with
a mucous membrane.
• They reduce the weight of the
skull, produce mucus, and
influence the quality of the voice
by acting as resonating chambers.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 Pharynx
• Commonly called the throat.
• It is a tube approximately 13 cm
long that begins at the internal
nares and extends part way
down the neck.
• Its walls are made of skeletal
muscle lined with mucous
membrane.
• The pharynx is a passageway for
both air and food and forms a
resonating chamber for speech
sounds.
 Pharynx
1. Nasopharynx
• It has four openings in its walls: the two
internal nares and, the two openings that
lead into the auditory or eustachian
• In its posterior wall, the pharyngeal or
adenoid tonsils are located.

2. Oropharynx
• It has only one opening, which connects
with the mouth.
• It is a common passageway for both food
and air.
• The palatine and lingual tonsils are found in
the oropharynx.

3. Laryngopharynx
• It connects with the esophagus posteriorly
and with the larynx anteriorly.
 The Larynx

• Connects the pharynx

with the trachea.
• Its walls are supported
by nine pieces of
cartilage:
• thyroid, epiglottis, cricoid
• arytenoid, corniculate,
cuneiform (paired)
Vocal cords
Vocal cords
Trachea

• It is a tubular passageway for

air approximately 4.5 inches in
length and about 1 inch in
diameter.
• It is found anterior to the
esophagus and extends from
the cricoid cartilage of the
larynx to the 5th thoracic
vertebra, where it divides into
the right and left primary
bronchi.
 Trachea
• The tracheal epithelium is
pseudostratified, ciliated
columnar cells with goblet
cells and basal cells.
• The goblet cells produce
mucus, and the ciliated
cells provide the same
protection against dust
particles as does the
membrane in the larynx
and pharynx.
• The cilia beat upward and
move the mucus-dust
package to the throat for
elimination from the body.
Tracheal epithelium
Heimlich
Maneuver
Heimlich
Maneuver
Bronchus (Bronchial Tree)
Bronchial
Branches/
Lobes of the
Lungs
Anatomy and Function of the
Lungs
• The lungs are paired, cone-shaped organs located in and filling the pleural divisions of
the thoracic cavity.
• Two layers of serous membrane, known as the pleural (PLOO-rah) membrane,
enclose and protect each lung.

• The outer layer attaches the lung to the wall of the thoracic cavity and is called the
parietal pleura. The inner layer is called the visceral pleura and covers the lungs.
• Between these two layers is a small space called the pleural cavity, which contains a
lubricating fluid that is secreted by the membranes. This pleural fluid prevents friction
between the two membranes and allows them to slide past each other during
breathing, as the lungs and thorax change shape.
• The segment of lung
tissue that each tertiary
or segmental bronchi
supplies is called a
bronchopulmonary
segment.
• Each of these segments
is divided into many
small compartments
called lobules
• Every lobule is wrapped
in elastic connective
tissue and contains a
lymphatic vessel, an
arteriole, a venule, and
bronchioles from a
terminal bronchiole.
• Terminal bronchioles subdivide
into microscopic branches
called respiratory bronchioles.
• These respiratory bronchioles
further subdivide into 2 to 11
alveolar ducts or atria. Around
the circumfer- ence of the
alveolar ducts are numerous
alveoli and alveolar sacs
• An alveolus is a cup-shaped or
grapelike outpouching lined with
epithelium and supported by a
thin, elastic basement
membrane.
• Alveolar sacs are two or more
alveoli that share a common
opening
• The actual exchange of the
respiratory gases between
the lungs and blood occurs
by diffusion across the
alveoli and the walls of the
capillary network that
surrounds the alveoli.
• This membrane, through
which the respiratory gases
move, is referred to as the
alveolar-capillary or
respiratory membrane.
• The surface of the
respiratory membrane
inside each alveolus is
coated with a fluid,
consisting of a mixture of
lipoproteins called
surfactant
 • Type 1
• squamous epithelial cells that make up about 90% of the
Pneumocytes alveolar sur- face for the exchange of the respiratory gases.
• Type 2
• cuboidal cells that secrete surfactant
 The Respiration Process
• The principal purpose of
respiration is to supply the
trillions of cells of the body with
oxygen and to remove the
carbon dioxide gas produced
by cellular activities.
• There are three basic
processes of respiration.
1. Ventilation or breathing, which is
the movement of air between the
atmosphere and the lungs.
Ventilation has two phases:
inhalation or inspiration
2. External respiration is the
exchange of gases between the
lungs and the blood
3. Internal respiration is the
exchange of gases between the
blood and the body cells.
 Partial Pressures
of O2 and CO2
• The pressure of a gas will determine the rate at
which it diffuses from one area to another.

• Molecules move from an area of high

concentration to an area of low con- centration.

• In a mixture of gases, like the air, each gas

contributes a portion of the total pressure of the
mixture.

• The partial pressure of a gas is the amount of

pressure that gas contributes to the total pressure
and is directly proportional to the concentration of
that gas in the mixture.

• Air is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 0.04%

carbon dioxide, and the rest a mixture of other
gases. Because air is 21% oxygen, it makes up
21% of atmospheric pressure (21% of 760 mm Hg).

• We can abbreviate the partial pressure of oxygen

as PO2 = 160 mm Hg and carbon dioxide as
PCO2 = 0.3 mm Hg in air.
 External &
Internal
Respiration
• The PCO2 in capillary blood is
45 mm Hg. The PCO2 in
alveolar air is 40 mm Hg.

• Because of these differences in

partial pressures, carbon
dioxide diffuses from blood,
where its partial pressure is
higher at 45 mm Hg, across the
respiratory membrane into
alveolar air, where its partial
pressure is lower at 40 mm Hg.
 External &
Internal
Respiration
• Similarly, the PO2 of blood is
40 mm Hg, while that of
alveolar air is 104 mm Hg.

• Therefore, oxygen diffuses

from alveolar air, where the
partial pressure is higher at
104 mm Hg, into the blood,
where the partial pressure is
lower at 40 mm Hg. The blood
then leaves the lungs with a
PO2 of 104 mm Hg
External &
Internal
Respiration
• The blood then transports oxygen to
tissue cells and picks up carbon
dioxide waste from the tissue cells.

• The tissue cells are high in carbon

dioxide from cellular metabolic
activities and low in oxygen, because
it is used up in those activities.

• The pressure of CO2 is higher in

tissue cells than in blood cells and
diffuses from tissues to blood cells.

• The blood cell is higher in O2 levels

than the tissue cells; thus, the
pressure of O2 in blood is higher and
diffuses into tissue cells, where it is
lower.
Respiratory Volumes and
Capacities
• Respiratory volumes are measures of the amount of air movement
during different portions of ventilation
• Respiratory capacities are sums of two or more respiratory volumes.
• The total volume of air contained in the respiratory system ranges
from 4 to 6 L.
Respiratory Volume
Respiratory Capacity
Topics

Anatomy of the Respiratory Physiology of the Pulmonary

System System
1. Nose & Nasal Cavities A. Ventilation and Lung Volumes
2. Pharynx • 1. Phases of Ventilation
3. Larynx • 2. Mechanisms of Ventilation
4. Trachea • 3. Pulmonary volumes and
capacities
5. Bronchi & smaller air passages
B. Gas Exchange
6. Lungs
C. O2 and CO2 transport in the Blood
Intended Learning
Outcomes

1. Identify the structures of the

respiratory system (CO1)
2. Explain the physiology (CO1)
3. Explain the pathophysiology
of the system (CO2)