Existing comment:
Healthy heart, plastinated:
The human heart is a fist-sized, hollow, muscular pump which beats continuously, moving blood through the body. The human heart has four chambers. The two smaller, upper chambers are the atria (singular, atrium). The two larger, lower chambers are the ventricles. Both the atria and the ventricles have strong, thick walls primarily made up of myocardium: heart muscle. The chambers are separated from one another by one-way valves which allow the blood to flow in one direction only. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs maintaining pulmonary circulation (Latin pulmo = lung). The left side of the heart moves blood throughout the remainder of the body, maintaining systemic circulation. This plastinated heart has been injected with dyes to show arteries and veins. Arteries are red. Veins are blue. |