Kidney Kidney The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood exits into the paired renal veins. Each kidney is attached to a ureter, a tube that carries excreted urine to the bladder. The nephron is the structural and functional unit of the kidney. Each adult kidney contains around 1 million nephrons. The nephron utilizes four processes to alter the blood plasma which flows to it: filtration, reabsorption, secretion, and excretion. The
Occipital artery Occipital artery The occipital artery arises from the external carotid artery opposite the facial artery. Its path is below the posterior belly of digastric to the occipital region. This artery supplies blood to the back of the scalp and sterno-mastoid muscles, and deep muscles in the back and neck. At its origin, it is covered by the posterior belly of the digastricus and the stylohyoideus, and the hypoglossal nerve winds around it from behind forward; higher up, it crosses the internal carotid artery, the internal jugular vein, and the vagus and accessory nerves. It next ascends to the interval between