Red Blood Cell Case Study

Identify or trace the path of a red blood cell through all anatomical/structural areas of the heart.
The path of a RBC consist of it first beginning in the heart as the RBC transports oxygen into the aorta by the aortic valve through contracting of the left ventricle. From the aorta, the RBC then travels through an artery with the help of arterioles to reach the capillaries. When in the capillary, the oxygen molecule that is carried by the RBC then detaches and travels through the capillary into the tissues of the body. RBC exchanges oxygen with carbon dioxide, as they are now known as deoxygenated RBC. The deoxygenated RBC then travels through the venules, veins, and returns to the right atrium of the heart by the superior or inferior venacava. …show more content…
It is able to coordinate the hearts activities as well as forcing it into a synchronized method. For instance, making sure the heart muscle is able to depolarize in one direction only this is from atria to ventricles. The major elements of the intrinsic system consist of: sinoatrial node or SA node (found on the posterior wall of the right atrium functions to initiating depolarization impulse that produces an action potential spreading through the atria to the AV node as a cardiac pacemaker setting a pace of the hearts beat); intermodal pathway (found in the walls of the atria connecting the SA node to the AV node it functions in distributing an action potential to the atria’s contractile cells), AV node (found within the inferior part of the interatrial septum above the tricuspid valve this is where the action potential can be delayed momentarily this is attributed by the smaller diameter of fibers and less gap junctions as the atrial contracts before transmitting to the AV bundle), AV bundle (known to be the only electrical connection found between the atria and the ventricle allowing an action potential to travel from the interatrial to the interventricular septum linking the AV node to the bundle branches), bundle branches (are divided into two parts right and left bundle branches found running on the interventricular septum to the heart apex), and purkinje fibers (found in the atrioventricular bundle of the heart and functions in transmitting nerve impulses to the cells located in the ventricles resulting in contraction and pumping blood into the lungs or other areas of the body). Pathway impulses through the intrinsic conduction consist of: SA depolarizing a wave, the wave reaches the atrial myocardium (atria contract) and to the AV node (atrio ventricular node), impulses are delayed