Library · Anatomy
Nasal cavity
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The nose is not just the door air comes in through: it is where air is conditioned. The nasal cavity warms and humidifies it, and filters out the tiny particles and debris it carries, doing all of that before the air reaches the lower airways, that is, the bronchi and the lungs.
Its shape serves that job. The septum divides it into two cavities held up by a framework of bone and cartilage, and inside each one are curled ridges called turbinates. Their scroll shape exists for a reason: to increase the surface area the nose offers to the air going by. A folded radiator: the same box offers far more surface to the air passing through.
The result is measurable. By the time air has traveled through the nasal cavity, it is at body temperature and nearly 100% humidity. And meanwhile the ciliated epithelium, the layer of cells with moving hairs that lines it, sweeps the trapped particles toward the nasopharynx, which is the part of the throat that sits behind the nose.
In brief
The nasal cavity humidifies and warms inspired air and removes particles and debris before it reaches the lower airways.
The septum divides it into two cavities with a bony and cartilaginous framework, and the scroll shape of the turbinates increases the surface area offered to the air.
A folded radiator: the same box offers far more surface to the air passing through.
By the time it has passed through, the air is at body temperature and nearly 100% humidity, while the ciliated epithelium sweeps particles toward the nasopharynx.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Head and Neck, Nasal Cavity, StatPearlsPublished
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