Biomedical Engineering 403
Gas Transport to the Periphery, Part 2

Reading for Today:

Chapter 6 in West .

Hey, Kids! It's Howdy Duggo Time!

This is what happened in class today (9-19-97). As usual, all of this is in outline format with hypertext, so if you want to review the specifics, or if you have any questions on a specific topic, click the hypertext for that topic.

Today's topic:

The role of Bicarbonate in blood pH

Consequently, we'll discuss CO2, bicarbonate, and the renal-respiratory system.

Okay, continuing on from Wednesday's lecture , we resume the discussion of how CO2 is transported in the blood. Remember that CO2 is carried in the blood via three (3) mechanisms:

Dissolved, per Henry's law
In the form of Carbamino Compounds
And, the focus of most of today's lecture, in the form of Bicarbonate.

As I just mentioned, most of today's lecture focused on the role of Bicarbonate in the body. Bicarbonate is important for a number of reasons, most prominently the maintenance of blood pH homeostasis.

The remainder of today's lecture adressed other important factors in maintaining a homeostatic blood pH. Make certain you know:

The role of Bicarbonate
Non-Bicarbonate Buffers & the buffer line
The Renal Respiratory System , and how the kidneys and lungs strive to maintain homeostasis in the face of:
Also, you probably oughtta know what causes these disease states. Also, be familiar with the concept of base excess.

Oh, and before the exam, I'd make darn sure that I knew how to find pH, HCO3- or PCO2 using the Henderson-Hasselbach Equation .

A copy of today's nifty handout:

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

And that's it for today!

Or, Jump to Lesson Number:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

No!
Please don't make me go to any of those pages!
I want to go somewhere completely different!

BME 403 Pages maintained by the T.A., Douglas Miles.

Biomedical Engineering 403 Gas Transport to the Periphery, Part 2