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Okay. So this tutorial is an introduction to respiratory anatomy. So the purpose of
the respiratory system is essentially to deliver oxygen to the cells of the body and to remove
carbon dioxide. So we'll just from the start from the outside and work our way in. We'll
start at the nose and mouth and work our way in towards the lungs and we'll talk about
some of the structures which make up the respiratory system.
So air first enters into the body through the nose and the mouth. So the nostrils contain
hair which filter the air. There's also a mucous membrane which lines the nose and the
nasal cavities, which helps to warm and moisten the air as it passes through.
And then when the air passes through up into the nostrils and into the nasal cavities,
so you could see these nasal cavities here, it passes into the pharynx. So just behind
the nasal cavity is the pharynx, which extends down to the larynx and the esophagus.
So the other pathway for air is through the mouth. The air enters into the mouth and passes
posteriorly into the pharynx.
So the pharynx is this muscular tube posteriorly behind the nasal cavities and the mouth. It
joins the nasal cavities and the mouth to the esophagus and the larynx below.
So you've got three parts to the pharynx. You've got the nasopharynx at the top, the
oropharynx, which is just behind the mouth and the laryngopharynx, which sits inferiorly.
If I just rotate around, you can see the esophagus sitting posteriorly. You can actually see
the thyroid here. I'll just remove that and we'll take a look at the larynx.
So the larynx is these set of structures here. It's also known as the voice box. It sits
just behind the hyoid bone (below the hyoid bone). You could see the hyoid bone just here.
You can see this set of structures, which is the larynx. This is important in voice
production and also allowing air into and out of the lungs.
So the larynx consists of several cartilages. You can see this big one here. This is the
thyroid cartilage. And in males, this forms the Adam's apple. I'll do a separate tutorial
on the larynx because there's quite a lot to learn.
So the larynx connects the laryngopharynx above to the trachea below. So the trachea
is this long pipe and it connects the larynx to the lungs. You can see on the trachea,
there's these kind of rings. The trachea has these c-shaped cartilaginous rings, which
help to form its structure.
So if I just rotate around, you can see the esophagus behind. So the c-shaped rings, there's
cartilage anteriorly and laterally on the trachea. And posteriorly, the trachea consists
of smooth muscle.