Abstract
This chapter provides a basic knowledge of anatomy and structure of the lungs, necessary to understand further developments in this book. The morphology plays an important role here, so a great deal of attention has been given to its implications in fractal analysis. The mechanical properties of the lungs are the result of a dynamic interplay between structure, active and passive breathing, all due to variations in pressure between the mouth and the alveoli. Evaluation of these properties give information upon the work of breathing and consequent diagnosis, with classification of respiratory diseases. Airway remodeling becomes important since the dynamics of the lungs and its intrinsic properties change with these structural alterations. An overview of the non-invasive lung function tests is also provided, since it helps the reader to understand the clinical significance of the mechanical work of respiration.
Keywords
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Force Vital Capacity
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy
- Airway Remodel
- Lung Function Test
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Barnes PJ (2000) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. N Engl J Med 343(4):269–280
Bates J (2009) Lung mechanics—an inverse modeling approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Berg JM (ed) (2002) Biochemistry, 6th edn. Freeman, New York
Busse W, Lemanske R (2001) Asthma New Engl J Med 344(5):350–362
Elizur A, Cannon C, Ferkol T (2008) Airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis. Chest 133(2):489–495
Guyton A (1986) In: Dreibelbis D (ed) Textbook of medical physiology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Habib R, Chalker R, Suki B, Jackson A (1994) Airway geometry and wall mechanical properties estimated from sub-glottal input impedance in humans. J Appl Physiol 77(1):441–451
Harper P, Karman S, Pasterkamp H, Wodicka G (2001) An acoustic model of the respiratory tract. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 48(5):543–549
Hogg J, Chu F, Utokaparch S et al. (2004) The nature of small airway obstruction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. N Engl J Med 350(26):2645–2653
Horsfield K, Dart G, Olson D, Cumming G (1971) Models of the human bronchial tree. J Appl Physiol 31:207–217
Hou C, Gheorghiu S, Coppens MS, Huxley VH, Pfeifer P (2005) Gas diffusion through the fractal landscape of the lung. In: Losa, Merlini, Nonnenmacher (ed) Fractals in biology and medicine, vol IV. Birkhauser, Berlin
Ionescu C, Derom E, De Keyser R (2009) Assessment of respiratory mechanical properties with constant-phase models in healthy and COPD lungs. Comput Methods Programs Biomed. doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2009.06.006
Kaczka D, Dellaca R (2011) Oscillation mechanics of the respiratory system: applications to lung disease. Crit Rev Biomed Eng 39(4):337–359
Lai S, Hyatt R (2000) Effect of age on elastic moduli. J Appl Physiol 89:163–168
Lande B, Mitzner W (2006) Analysis of lung parenchyma as a parametric porous medium. J Appl Physiol 101:926–933
Mandelbrot B (1983) The fractal geometry of nature. Freeman, New York
Mauroy B (2005) 3D hydrodynamics in the upper human bronchial tree: interplay between geometry and flow distribution. In: Losa, Merlini, Nonnenmacher (eds) Fractals in biology and medicine, vol IV. Birkhauser, Berlin
McCool F, Rochester D (2008) Non-muscular diseases of the chest wall. In: Fishman A (ed) Fishman’s pulmonary disease and disorders, vol II. McGraw-Hill Medical, New York, pp 1541–1548
Miller MR, Hankinson J, Brusasco V, Burgos F, Casaburi R, Coates A, Crapo R, Enright P, van der Grinten CPM, Gustafsson P, Jensen R, Johnson DC, MacIntyre N, McKay R, Navajas D, Pedersen OF, Pellegrino R, Viegi G, Wanger J (2005) Standardisation of spirometry. Eur Respir J 26:319–338. doi:10.1183/09031936.05.00034805
Rogers D, Doull I (2005) Physiological principles of airway clearance techniques used in the physiotherapy management of cystic fibrosis. Curr Pediatr 15:233–238
Sauret V, Goatman, Fleming J, Bailey A (1999) Semi-automated tabulation of the 3D topology and morphology of branching networks using CT: application to the airway tree. Phys Med Biol 44:1625–1638
Tgavalekos N, Venegas JG, Suki B, Lutchen K (2003) Relation between structure, function and imaging in a three-dimensional model of the lung. Ann Biomed Eng 31:363–373
Weibel ER (2005) Mandelbrot’s fractals and the geometry of life: a tribute to Benoit Mandelbrot on his 80th birthday. Losa, Merlini, Nonnenmacher (eds) Fractals in biology and medicine, vol IV. Birkhauser, Berlin
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag London
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ionescu, C.M. (2013). The Human Respiratory System. In: The Human Respiratory System. Series in BioEngineering. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5388-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5388-7_2
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-5387-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-5388-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)