ANP 1105 Final: Blood Vessels

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Anatomy and Physiology
• Course: ANP 1105
• Professor: William Staines

Document Summary

Blood vessels are a delivery system of dynamic structures that begins and ends at the heart. The 3 major types of blood vessels are arteries, capillaries, and veins. Arteries carry blood away from the heart; they are said to branch, diverge, or fork. Veins by contrast carry blood toward the heart; they are said to join, merge, or converge. In the systemic circuit the arteries carry oxygenated blood and the veins always carry oxygen-poor blood. In the pulmonary circuit the arteries still lead to the heart but they carry oxygen-poor blood to the lungs, and the veins carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart. The blood containing space which is surrounded by the walls of the blood vessels is known as the lumen. The middle layer is the tunic media: mostly smooth muscle cells and sheets of elastin.