Abstract
The purpose of this lecture is to demonstrate that for good efficiency of the diffusive transfer of oxygen to blood, the unit transfer system, namely the lung acinus, should not be too large. This result is a general consequence of diffusive screening effects. The constraint of maximal efficiency then imposes that the lung has to be divided into a large number of small efficients units. As the lung is space-filling, the air access to these units has to be a branched geometry.
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Sapoval, B., Filoche, M., Weibel, E.R. (2001). Branched Structures, Acinus Morphology and Optimal Design of Mammalian Lungs. In: Fleury, V., Gouyet, JF., Léonetti, M. (eds) Branching in Nature. Centre de Physique des Houches, vol 14. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06162-6_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06162-6_12
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