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Concept
Artery
Summary
An artery (: arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pulmonary and the umbilical arteries, which carry deoxygenated blood to the organs that oxygenate it (lungs and placenta, respectively). The effective arterial blood volume is that extracellular fluid which fills the arterial system.
The arteries are part of the circulatory system, that is responsible for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all cells, as well as the removal of carbon dioxide and waste products, the maintenance of optimum blood pH, and the circulation of proteins and cells of the immune system.
Arteries contrast with veins, which carry blood back towards the heart.
Arterial tree
The anatomy of arteries can be separated into gross anatomy, at the macroscopic level, and microanatomy, which must be studied with a microscope. The arterial system of the human body is divided into systemic arteries, carrying blood from the heart to the whole body, and pulmonary arteries, carrying deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs.
The outermost layer of an artery (or vein) is known as the tunica externa, also known as tunica adventitia, and is composed of collagen fibers and elastic tissue - with the largest arteries containing vasa vasorum (small blood vessels that supply large blood vessels). Most of the layers have a clear boundary between them, however the tunica externa has a boundary that is ill-defined. Normally its boundary is considered when it meets or touches the connective tissue. Inside this layer is the tunica media, or media, which is made up of smooth muscle cells, elastic tissue (also called connective tissue proper) and collagen fibres. The innermost layer, which is in direct contact with the flow of blood, is the tunica intima, commonly called the intima. The elastic tissue allows the artery to bend and fit through places in the body.
Official source
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