Cilia in airways
The average person who is moderately active during the daytime breathes about 20,000 liters (more than 5,000 gallons) of air every 24 hours. Inevitably, this air (which would weigh more than 20 kilograms [44 pounds]) contains potentially harmful particles and gases.
Particles, such as dust and soot, mold, fungi, bacteria, and viruses deposit on airway and alveolar surfaces. Fortunately, the respiratory system has defense mechanisms to clean and protect itself. Only extremely small particles, less than 3 to 5 microns (0.000118 to 0.000196 inches) in diameter, penetrate to the deep lung.
One of the respiratory system's defense mechanisms involves tiny, muscular, hair-like projections (cilia) on the cells that line the airways. The airways are covered by a liquid layer of mucus that is propelled by the cilia.
These tiny muscles beat more than 1,000 times a minute, moving the mucus that lines the trachea upwards about 0.5 to 1 centimeter per minute (0.197 to 0.4 inch per minute). Particles and pathogens that are trapped on this mucus layer are coughed out or moved to the mouth and swallowed.
Obviously my brain is overheated so don't blow it! :)
#animation #cinema4D #python #humanpipes
I don't understand the graphic...
ReplyDeleteThat's good ;)
ReplyDeleteAllah Akbar
ReplyDeleteThe human body is quite amazing really. Air filtration systems in building and air/spacecraft would probably be even better with cilia inspired technology, if they don't already. Perhaps even in carbon capture or similar, reducing the impact of pollution
ReplyDeleteAbra Kadabra
ReplyDeleteHocus pocus
ReplyDeleteHold on - this is your animation? When I first saw it I thought it was just a sourced professional media animation as a supporting graphic for a human anatomy post. But now that I look back I see it's in your Animations collection.
ReplyDeleteCorina Marinescu awesome job! =D
I should have consulted you more Sean Walker ;)
ReplyDeleteWill do it next time! Merci :)
Corina Marinescu you certainly couldn't benefit from the consultation, but I wish you would all the same. =D
ReplyDeleteAgain, very cool animation. And of course with an endearingly Franky-esque theme: a mucous muscle!
Don't ever change, the world would become a lot less interesting. Lol
It's the coughing that really does the damage in lung disease. You get so much dirty mucous that you're coughing till it becomes a reflexive habit. The air thus forced through the lungs abrates the tissues lining the lungs. Drying and impacting and irritating the tissue until it becomes inflamed and finally damaged or even cancerous. People with COPD are counselled to learn to control their coughing so as to cough less and make it more effective when they do.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I need to cough while reading this ^_^
ReplyDelete