Abstract
The lungs contain about 3 × 108 alveoli (little sacs) in which air and blood are brought close together so that gas exchange can occur. The principal gases exchanged are O2, which is picked up by the blood, and CO2, which leaves the blood stream and enters the air spaces of the lung. These gases need to cross the thin alveolar-capillary membrane; this crossing occurs by diffusion. In normal circumstances, the alveolar-capillary membrane presents so slight a barrier to diffusion that the blood in the alveolar capillaries achieves equilibrium with the alveolar air before leaving the capillaries.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Annotated References
West, J. B.: Ventilation/Blood Flow and Gas Exchange, 5th Edition, Blackwell, Oxford, UK, 1990.
Evans, J. W., Wagner, and West, J. B.: Conditions for reduction of pulmonary gas transfer by ventilation-perfusion inequality.Journal of Applied Physiology 36, 535–567, 1974.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hoppensteadt, F.C., Peskin, C.S. (2002). Gas Exchange in the Lungs. In: Modeling and Simulation in Medicine and the Life Sciences. Texts in Applied Mathematics, vol 10. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21571-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21571-6_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-2871-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21571-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive