Capillaries

Capillaries are the smallest of the blood vessels and serve as the connection between the arterial and venal systems of the cardiac system. The action of the diaphragm and muscles in the arms and legs exerts a massaging effect that helps to move blood back to the heart. The purpose of all this pumping and transporting is to exchange oxygen and other nutrients for waste products. The transfer takes place across microscopic, one-cell-thick vessels called capillaries that connect the tiny...

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Full Capillaries Description

[Continued from above] . . . muscular branches of arteries, called arterioles, with tiny veins called venules. The capillaries allow nutrients, oxygen, and fluids to pass into tissue, and they also collect carbon dioxide waste materials and fluids for return through the veins to the lungs and the lymph system. The capillaries are where the important functions of the circulation take place: the exchange of material between the circulatory system and cells.