INIMA

INIMA

As blood travels through the body delivering oxygen and nutrients to the tissue, it also picks up carbon dioxide and other waste materials produced by the cells. This oxygen-poor blood is transported through a network of veins to the vena cava and to the right side of the heart, where it is then pumped into the lungs. The blood returning from the veins enters the right atrium of the heart, passes through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle, passes by the semilunar valves of the pulmonary artery, and goes to the lungs where carbon dioxide is exhaled and the blood is replenished with oxygen. The oxygen rich blood returning from the lungs enters the left atrium, passes the mitral valve, then enters the left ventricle. From the left ventricle it is propelled past the semilunar valves of the aorta into the aorta itself and distributed through the body via a network of arteries.