Respiratory System

This is an integrated textbook on the respiratory system, covering the anatomy, physiology and biochemistry of the system, all presented in a clinically relevant context appropriate for the first two years of the medical student course. One of the seven volumes in the Systems of the Body series. Concise text covers the core anatomy, physiology and biochemistry in an integrated manner as required by system- and problem-based medical courses. The basic science is presented in the clinical context in a way appropriate for the early part of the medical course. There is a linked website providing self-assessment material ideal for examination preparation.

Aimed principally at those on the 'new' medical curriculum, this textbook on the respiratory system covers the structure and function of the system and its major diseases. It offers integrated coverage of the structure, function and major diseases of the respiratory system.

The Human Respiratory System combines emerging ideas from biology and mathematics to show the reader how to produce models for the development of biomedical engineering applications associated with the lungs and airways. Mathematically mature but in its infancy as far as engineering uses are concerned, fractional calculus is the basis of the methods chosen for system analysis and modelling. This reflects two decades’ worth of conceptual development which is now suitable for bringing to bear in biomedical engineering. The text reveals the latest trends in modelling and identification of human respiratory parameters with a view to developing diagnosis and monitoring technologies. Of special interest is the notion of fractal structure which is indicative of the large-scale biological efficiency of the pulmonary system. The related idea of fractal dimension represents the adaptations in fractal structure caused by environmental factors, notably including disease. These basics are linked to model the dynamical patterns of breathing as a whole. The ideas presented in the book are validated using real data generated from healthy subjects and respiratory patients and rest on non-invasive measurement methods. The Human Respiratory System will be of interest to applied mathematicians studying the modelling of biological systems, to clinicians with interests outside the traditional borders of medicine, and to engineers working with technologies of either direct medical significance or for mitigating changes in the respiratory system caused by, for example, high-altitude or deep-sea environments.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

Respiratory system and artificial ventilation are key topics when considering the main aspects of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine. This book includes contributions by an international panel of authors. It collects valuable expertise to illustrate principles, and to study results and case experiences on respiratory physiopathology, respiratory mechanics, respiratory functions monitoring, artificial ventilation and diagnostic radiology in respiratory dysfunction failure.

This presentation describes various aspects of the regulation of tissue oxygenation, including the roles of the circulatory system, respiratory system, and blood, the carrier of oxygen within these components of the cardiorespiratory system. The respiratory system takes oxygen from the atmosphere and transports it by diffusion from the air in the alveoli to the blood flowing through the pulmonary capillaries. The cardiovascular system then moves the oxygenated blood from the heart to the microcirculation of the various organs by convection, where oxygen is released from hemoglobin in the red blood cells and moves to the parenchymal cells of each tissue by diffusion. Oxygen that has diffused into cells is then utilized in the mitochondria to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of all cells. The mitochondria are able to produce ATP until the oxygen tension or PO2 on the cell surface falls to a critical level of about 4–5 mm Hg. Thus, in order to meet the energetic needs of cells, it is important to maintain a continuous supply of oxygen to the mitochondria at or above the critical PO2 . In order to accomplish this desired outcome, the cardiorespiratory system, including the blood, must be capable of regulation to ensure survival of all tissues under a wide range of circumstances. The purpose of this presentation is to provide basic information about the operation and regulation of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, as well as the properties of the blood and parenchymal cells, so that a fundamental understanding of the regulation of tissue oxygenation is achieved.

This book proposes an introduction to the mathematical modeling of the respiratory system. A detailed introduction on the physiological aspects makes it accessible to a large audience without any prior knowledge on the lung. Different levels of description are proposed, from the lumped models with a small number of parameters (Ordinary Differential Equations), up to infinite dimensional models based on Partial Differential Equations. Besides these two types of differential equations, two chapters are dedicated to resistive networks, and to the way they can be used to investigate the dependence of the resistance of the lung upon geometrical characteristics. The theoretical analysis of the various models is provided, together with state-of-the-art techniques to compute approximate solutions, allowing comparisons with experimental measurements. The book contains several exercises, most of which are accessible to advanced undergraduate students.