Excretory from Cyber-Anatomy Web site and Think Quest
The kidneys are responsible for purifying the blood. They are one of the best examples of
homeostatic organas, organs responsible for maintaining a
balance of elements. They work muck like sanitation workers
filtering and disposing of wastes from the blood.
The kidneys are protected by floating ribs located in the
mid back. They are small dark red, bean-shaped organs. Due
to the placement of the liver, the right kidney is a bit lower
than the left.
The kidney is enclosed by a transparent, fiberous, renal
capsule. A mass of fat, known as the adipose capsule encases
each kidney, and provides some protection. The kidney can
be divided into three regions, the renal cortex, the renal
medulla, and the renal pelvis. The renal cortex is the light colored, outer region of the kidney.
The renal medulla is the darker, reddish-brown region.
The primary function of the kidneys is to clean the blood, resulting in a large amount of blood
being continuously present in the kidneys. Some one quarter of the body’s blood enters the
kidneys per minute. The renal artery is the large arterial vessal which enters the kidneys then
branches off to segmented arteries. This vessel brings in oxygenated blood from the heart. The
renal vein is the large vessel by which cleansed blood exits the kidney.