Geometric and Dimensional Model of the Respiratory Zone

Abstract

Physiologists repeateadly have made use of simple anatomic models of the respiratory elements of the lung in their functional analysis of gas exchange phenomena occurring at the alveolo-capillary level (Müller, 1945; Grün et al., 1956; Kreuzer, 1953; Thews, 1957; and others). While these models were mostly hypothetic and did not reflect the actual geometric and quantitative relations between the elements, it is now possible to propose a more “realistic” model on the basis of the morphometric studies presented in the preceding paragraphs.