Collection: The respiratory system

In our selection of models of the respiratory system (airways), you can choose between a model that only shows the lungs, and a model that basically shows the entire respiratory system. There are also airway models focusing on the tissue changes in bronchitis, asthma and COPD. In addition, you will find a very practical and innovative model that can be used to demonstrate inspiration and expiration (breathing in and out).



Respiratory models/airway models are mainly used for understanding the anatomy of the airways as well as clinical aspects such as diseases, examinations and treatment.



Anatomically speaking, the respiratory system/airway includes many anatomical structures. The air/oxygen/oxygen is taken in via the nasal cavity and oral cavity. The air then passes through the pharynx and throat, after which it reaches the trachea. The majority of these tissues/organs are not located in the chest cavity/thorax. The trachea divides into main bronchi, after which these divide again into smaller airway branches in the lungs called bronchi and bronchioles (or bronchi and bronchioles). At the end of the bronchioles are the alveoli, where gas exchange takes place. Oxygen/oxygen is absorbed into the blood, while carbon dioxide (CO2) is released into the air so that it can be excreted with the exhalation. Overall, the lungs can be divided into lobes and segments.



The breath/respiratory system can roughly be divided into inhalation and exhalation (inspiration and expiration), which are physiologically different. The breathing muscles are the diaphragm and muscles in the chest wall (costal muscles).



During inhalation, the muscles create a negative pressure, because the diaphragm contracts and the contents of the abdomen are compressed a little, and because the rib muscles move the chest a little up and out. All this expands the lungs so that the pressure drops and therefore becomes lower than the surrounding air. This draws air into the airways.



Exhalation, on the other hand, takes place when the muscles relax. In this way, the chest and lungs are reduced so that they create an excess pressure. This results in the air being passively forced out of the lungs. That is that inhalation is an active process, while exhalation is primarily a passive process.



In each breath, approximately 0.5 liters of air pass in and out of the lungs (this is called the tidal volume).

You can also calculate other volumes such as TLC, FVC and FEV1. In a lung function test (spirometry) such volumes are calculated - for example when examining shortness of breath and organizing treatment (for example in COPD).


Clinically, the airway models can be used to understand lung diseases and other diseases in the chest cavity.

These can be, for example, obstructive diseases such as COPD and asthma as well as other diseases such as blood clots in the lungs, bronchitis, pneumothorax and lung cancer/metastases in the lungs.



The larynx functions as both an airway and a tone generator for the voice. See possibly also our models of the throat (incl. trachea) in the subcategory "Ear-nose-throat models". Here you will find, for example, this throat model which can be separated and this enlarged throat model.