Kidney

Illustrations show a translucent Human Kidney. The kidneys are paired organs that are responsible for controlling fluid balance and for the excretion of nitrogenous and other wastes. This filtration and resorption action produces urine which drains down the ureters (shown as yellow tubes emerging from brown bean-shaped kidneys) to collect in the urinary bladder. They perfom this function by filtering blood which enters the kidney via the renal artery (shown as a bright red tube entering from right). The renal artery divides into several major branches which then sub-divide producing interlobar arteries (shown coursing between the renal lobes, the red conical structures with radiating lines). Towards the kidney periphery (at the junction between the medulla and the cortex) you can see the interlobar arteries dividing to produce the arcuate arteries that arc across the tops of the renal pyramids (the inner parts of the lobes). From the arcuates, project the interlobular or cortical radial arteries (they look like little fingers splayed out towards the edge of the kidney) which ultimately supply the filtration system. Once processed, the blood is collected in veins (shown as purplish tubes) that converge to create the renal vein (shown as a thick purplish tube exiting to the right of the image). The filtration system is housed in the lobes and is illustrated here as radiating lines that converge to a rounded point (the renal papilla). Urine drains from these papillae into collecting ducts (yellow funnel shapes) and thence to the ureter and bladder.

ALL IMAGES / / ALL MEDICAL IMAGES: Human Kidney