Ventilation

Ventilation is the movement of air into and out of the lungs or water across respiratory surfaces. It renews the medium available for gas exchange.

Pulmonary ventilation: The movement of air between the atmosphere and the lungs. This is ventilation specifically in air-breathing animals.
Respiratory system: The organs and structures that exchange gases between an organism and its environment. Ventilation is one part of this broader system.
Minute ventilation: The total volume of air breathed in or out per minute. It combines breath size and breathing rate to quantify overall ventilation.
Respiration: The biological processes by which organisms use oxygen and release energy, or exchange respiratory gases with their environment. Ventilation moves the medium; respiration includes gas exchange and, in cells, energy-releasing chemistry.
Diaphragm: A dome-shaped skeletal muscle that separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities in mammals. Its contraction expands the thorax and draws air into the lungs.
Gas exchange: The transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide between an organism and its environment. Ventilation renews the air or water used at gas-exchange surfaces.
Alveolar ventilation: The volume of fresh air reaching alveoli per minute, excluding air in conducting passages. It estimates the air actually available for pulmonary gas exchange.
Diffusion: The net movement of particles from regions of higher concentration to lower concentration. Ventilation is bulk flow, whereas gases cross respiratory surfaces mainly by diffusion.
Pleural cavity: The thin fluid-filled space between the membranes surrounding the lungs. Its pressure coupling helps the lungs follow movements of the chest wall.
Alveolus: A microscopic air sac in the lungs where gases diffuse between air and blood. Alveoli receive ventilated air before oxygen diffuses into the blood.

Linked from 31 pages