Cardiac physiology is to collect de-oxygenated blood, in the right atrium, from the body via the superior vena cava, inferior vena cava and from the coronary sinus and pump it, through the tricuspid valve, via the right ventricle, through the semilunar pulmonary valve and into the pulmonary artery in the pulmonary circulation where carbon dioxide can be exchanged for oxygen in the lungs. This happens through the passive process of diffusion. In the "left heart" oxygenated blood is returned to the left atrium via the pulmonary vein. It is then pumped into the left ventricle through the bicuspid valve and into the
Artery Artery An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel that takes blood away from the heart to all parts of the body (tissues, lungs, etc). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pulmonary and the umbilical arteries, which carry deoxygenated blood to the organs that oxygenate it. The effective arterial blood volume is that extracellular fluid which fills the arterial system. The arteries are part of the circulatory system, which is responsible for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all cells, as well as the removal of carbon dioxide and waste products, the maintenance of