The topic bronchiole is discussed in the following articles:

respiratory diseases

  • TITLE: respiratory disease (human disease)
    SECTION: Diseases of the smaller bronchi and bronchioles
    It is in the smaller bronchi that major obstruction commonly occurs in asthma: these bronchi contain smooth muscle in their walls, and the muscle may contract, causing airway obstruction. The small radicles of the bronchial tree, the bronchioles, are commonly involved in infective processes such as viral infections; they are also the primary site of deposition of inhaled dust and particles....
structure of


  • TITLE: lung (anatomy)
    ...lung; the resulting system of tubules resembles an inverted tree. The diameters of the bronchi diminish eventually to less than 1 mm (0.04 inch). The branches 3 mm and less in diameter are known as bronchioles, which lead to minute air sacs called alveoli (see pulmonary alveolus), where the actual gas molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged between the respiratory spaces and...

respiratory system

  • TITLE: human respiratory system (physiology)
    SECTION: Structural design of the airway tree
    ...of an airway lies on average at the end of the 16th generation, if the trachea is counted as generation 0. The conducting airways comprise the trachea, the two stem bronchi, the bronchi, and the bronchioles. Their function is to further warm, moisten, and clean the inspired air and distribute it to the gas-exchanging zone of the lung. They are lined by the typical respiratory epithelium with...