20.01.2015 Views

njit-etd2003-081 - New Jersey Institute of Technology

njit-etd2003-081 - New Jersey Institute of Technology

njit-etd2003-081 - New Jersey Institute of Technology

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

21<br />

2.3. Metabolic Function/Respiration<br />

In the human, respiration serves to provide cells with oxygen, eliminate carbon dioxide<br />

and regulate the pH <strong>of</strong> the blood. In order to provide cells with oxygen, air from the<br />

environment enters the body during inhalation. Carbon dioxide and other unwanted<br />

substances are removed from the body during exhalation. Upon inhalation, air enters the<br />

body via the trachea, and then flows into the bronchi. The air then reaches the alveoli.<br />

The properties <strong>of</strong> the alveoli allow rapid and efficient exchange <strong>of</strong> gasses between the<br />

blood within the capillaries and the alveoli. The volume <strong>of</strong> oxygen per unit time (V02 )<br />

that is transported from the capillaries to the body cells is equal to the volume <strong>of</strong> the<br />

inspired oxygen that is diffused from the alveoli into the blood at any given instant.<br />

Analogously, the volume <strong>of</strong> CO2 produced by the body cells per unit time (V CO2 ) is equal<br />

to the amount <strong>of</strong> CO2 that diffuses from the blood to the alveoli. The total amount <strong>of</strong> air<br />

entering and leaving the body per unit time is the called ventilation (VE).<br />

The Fick equation expresses the important relationship <strong>of</strong> tissue oxygen uptake<br />

( V02 ) to cardiac output (CO) and the arterial-venous oxygen content difference<br />

(Ca02 — Cv02 ) [10] as shown below:

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!