Images are shown here of a human lung. They were produced using resin casts of the airways and blood vessels, or by using a scanning electron microscope.
Click on any of the images in order to see the pictures more clearly.
Airways and blood vessels
This image shows the airways of the lungs on the left-hand side.The right-hand side shows the airways, with the pulmonary arteries and veins.Image and cast kindly provided by Walter Weber (Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland).
Close-up of airways and blood vessels
This image shows a close-up version of the image above.
You can see here how closely the arteries follow the airways to the periphery; the veins can be seen lying between the units.
Image kindly provided by Walter Weber.
Gas exchange area with alveoli
This image shows many alveoli bunched together like grapes.
Image kindly provided by Peter Gehr (Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern).
Walls of alveoli
This image shows a close-up version of the alveolar wall.
You can see the red blood cells in a capillary seperated from the air by a very thin tissue barrier.
Image kindly provided by Ewald R. Weibel (Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern).