Arteries are blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the tissues of the body. Each artery is a muscular tube lined with smooth tissue that has three layers:
- The intima is the inner layer lined by a smooth tissue called endothelium.
- The media is a layer of muscle that lets arteries handle the high pressures from the heart.
- The adventitia is a connective tissue anchoring arteries to nearby tissue.
The largest artery in the human body is the aorta, the main high-pressure pipeline connected to the heart's left ventricle. The aorta branches into a network of smaller arteries that extend throughout the body. The arteries' smaller branches are referred to as arterioles and capillaries. The pulmonary arteries carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs under low pressure, making these arteries unique.
The images below were captured using the
Richter Optica U2D digital microscope with a 5 megapixel microscopy camera.
![Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve cross section under the microscope at 40x.]( "Microscope World image of artery under the microscope captured at 40x.") |
| Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve c.s. captured with U2D microscope at 40x. |
![Microscopy image of artery cross section under the microscope at 100x magnification.]( "Microscope World image of artery under the microscope captured at 100x.") |
| Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve c.s. captured with U2D microscope at 100x. |
![Microscope World image of artery, vein and nerve cross section captured under the microscope at 400x.]( "Artery, vein and nerve c.s. under the microscope at 400x.") |
| Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve c.s. captured with U2D microscope at 400x. |
