1.1 Structure of the respiratory system
Pulmonary ventilation, the movement of air into and out of the lungs, involves the main structures of the respiratory system (Figure 1). They include:
- the lungs
- a system of airways that deliver the air to the blood vessels of the lungs
- the musculoskeletal system that ventilates the lungs
- the central and peripheral nervous system that controls the rate and depth of breathing.

Figure 1 Cross-section through the structures of the respiratory system.
OpenLearn - Blood and the respiratory system
Except for third party materials and otherwise, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence, full copyright detail can be found in the acknowledgements section. Please see full copyright statement for details.