Arteries are blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the tissues of the body. Each artery is a muscular tube lined with smooth tissue that has three layers:
- The intima is the inner layer lined by a smooth tissue called endothelium.
- The media is a layer of muscle that lets arteries handle the high pressures from the heart.
- The adventitia is a connective tissue anchoring arteries to nearby tissue.
The largest artery in the human body is the aorta, the main high-pressure pipeline connected to the heart's left ventricle. The aorta branches into a network of smaller arteries that extend throughout the body. The arteries' smaller branches are referred to as arterioles and capillaries. The pulmonary arteries carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs under low pressure, making these arteries unique.
The images below were captured using the
Richter Optica U2D digital microscope with a 5 megapixel microscopy camera.
![Microscope World image of artery under the microscope captured at 40x. Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve cross section under the microscope at 40x.](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sjt5skT161o/VutJQeIf-MI/AAAAAAAAETg/lD1VvKuUxHASVSZa7A8etEzT8Dzx9c7-A/s640/Artery-vein-nerve4x.jpg) |
Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve c.s. captured with U2D microscope at 40x. |
![Microscope World image of artery under the microscope captured at 100x. Microscopy image of artery cross section under the microscope at 100x magnification.](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LNfOx_ri1VM/VutJo32h8RI/AAAAAAAAETo/zeM8kDB-L34TQ_FWgAP8Np7PWjifCtEhQ/s640/Artery-vein-nerve10x.jpg) |
Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve c.s. captured with U2D microscope at 100x. |
![Artery, vein and nerve c.s. under the microscope at 400x. Microscope World image of artery, vein and nerve cross section captured under the microscope at 400x.](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6c9OkUE34k/Vuw82-aLaUI/AAAAAAAAET8/TqGSx18YLqM-bY-38mnpdkAcQs5KvVa8w/s640/Artery-vein-nerve40x.jpg) |
Microscopy image of artery, vein and nerve c.s. captured with U2D microscope at 400x. |