KNES 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Pulmonary Circulation, Pulmonary Pleurae, Ascending Aorta

• School: University of Calgary
• Department: Kinesiology
• Course: KNES 260
• Professor: Ronald Reed Ferber

Document Summary

There are 3 main divisions of blood vessels: Arteries: carry blood away from the heart. Tunica externa is the thickest, external layer meant for protection. Tunica media is composed of smooth muscle. Tunica interna is the thinnest inner layer which provides a smooth inner surface, and has elastic lamina to maintain the lumen (lumen is the space inside a hollow organ or vessel) Arteries are the largest followed by arterioles and then capillaries which are the smallest. Elastic: largest arteries which allow for a lot of expansion between heart beats. Muscular: most other peripheral arteries, they have a thicker/more developed tunica media so they can constrict and control blood flow to different areas of the body. Arterioles: have the thickest tunica media and a very narrow lumen (lumina = plural) Veins are largest, followed by venules, and then capillaries. Unite to form venous plexuses (plexus = group, a venous plexus is a group of veins)