Respiratory system anatomy in 3D

Structure of the airways and lungs

The trachea runs from the larynx to the carina and divides into the right and left main bronchi. Each main bronchus gives lobar bronchi, one per lobe, and each lobar bronchus divides into segmental bronchi. A segmental bronchus and the lung tissue it supplies form a bronchopulmonary segment, the basic surgical and functional unit of the lung.

The right lung has horizontal and oblique fissures separating three lobes. The left lung has only an oblique fissure; its superior lobe includes the lingula, which corresponds to the right middle lobe, and the cardiac notch where the heart lies.

What the 3D model shows

The model contains 106 respiratory parts: the epiglottis, the trachea, both main bronchi and the bronchial tree of every segment, labelled apical, posterior, anterior, superior, lateral and medial, superior and inferior lingular, and the four basal segments. The five lung lobes are separate parts. You can see the system inside a see-through skeleton, on its own, or as the airway tree alone with the lobes removed.

How to study the respiratory system

Start with the system in the chest in the anterior view and note how high the lung apices reach and how low the lobes extend at the back. Open the isolated view and turn it to the lateral views to see the fissures between the lobes. Then switch to the airways view, follow the right main bronchus into the middle lobe and name its lateral and medial segmental branches. Repeat for each lobe, then list the bronchopulmonary segments of both lungs from memory.