MICROANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Listen to pronunciation. (al-VEE-oh-ly) Tiny air sacs at the end of the bronchioles (tiny branches of air tubes in the lungs). The alveoli are where the lungs and the blood exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide during the process of breathing in and breathing out.

Detailed explanation-2: -Alveoli are tiny air sacs in your lungs that take up the oxygen you breathe in and keep your body going. Although they’re microscopic, alveoli are the workhorses of your respiratory system.

Detailed explanation-3: -A pulmonary alveolus (plural: alveoli, from Latin alveolus, “little cavity"), also known as an air sac or air space, is one of millions of hollow, distensible cup-shaped cavities in the lungs where pulmonary gas exchange takes place.

Detailed explanation-4: -The alveoli are responsible for the spongy nature of the lung. These alveoli are lined by flattened epithelial cells called pneumocytes with a single opening. The alveolar wall or septum is made up of three tissue components: surface epithelium, supporting tissue, and an extensive network of continuous capillaries.

Detailed explanation-5: -While each individual alveolus appears small and insignificant, the combined surface area of multiple small pockets is much higher than the surface area of a single, large cavity. Thus, the alveolar sacs work to increase surface area and subsequently the rate of gas exchange within the body.