Trachea & bronchial tree anatomy

Also known as: windpipe, airway, airways, bronchi

The windpipe and the branching airways that carry air into every segment of the lungs.

Open in the 3D explorer Locate structures Quiz: respiratory

3D model of the Trachea & bronchial tree in the Anatomy Nexus anatomy atlas — Interactive 3D model: Trachea & bronchial tree. Orbit, zoom and click the structures.Load the 3D model

Overview page. A full anatomy article for the trachea & bronchial tree has not been written yet; below are the modelled structures, the system it belongs to and every clinical topic that mentions it.

Structures in the atlas 25

The modelled pieces that make up the trachea & bronchial tree in the 3D atlas. Each opens in the explorer.

Bronchial artery
Bronchial branch of arch of aorta
Inferior lingular bronchial tree · 2 pieces
Lateral segmental bronchial tree · 4 pieces
Left anterior basal segmental bronchial tree · 3 pieces
Left anterior segmental bronchial tree · 8 pieces
Left apical segmental bronchial tree · 6 pieces
Left lateral basal segmental bronchial tree · 4 pieces
Left main bronchus
Left medial basal segmental bronchial tree · 2 pieces
Left posterior basal segmental bronchial tree · 6 pieces
Left posterior segmental bronchial tree · 3 pieces
Left superior segmental bronchial tree · 7 pieces
Medial segmental bronchial tree · 4 pieces
Right anterior basal segmental bronchial tree · 3 pieces
Right anterior segmental bronchial tree · 7 pieces
Right apical segmental bronchial tree · 8 pieces
Right lateral basal segmental bronchial tree · 4 pieces
Right main bronchus proper
Right medial basal segmental bronchial tree · 2 pieces
Right posterior basal segmental bronchial tree · 6 pieces
Right posterior segmental bronchial tree · 6 pieces
Right superior segmental bronchial tree · 9 pieces
Superior lingular bronchial tree · 4 pieces
Trachea

The respiratory in brief

Air enters through the nose, where cartilages support the nostrils and conchae warm and moisten it, passes the larynx, which guards the airway and produces the voice, and descends the trachea. The trachea divides into the main bronchi, which branch again and again into the segmental bronchial trees modelled here, one for each bronchopulmonary segment. Gas exchange takes place in the alveoli at the end of this tree; the lung tissue itself is not a separate piece in this dataset, so the bronchial trees stand in for the lungs.

All structures of the respiratory