Andy Wellsover 1 year ago

Glomerulus

This image shows high definition SEM of a glomerulus of the kidney. These knots of capillaries are the sites of plasma filtration. The filtration is the first step in making urine. The glomerular capillaries are formed between afferent (blood from renal artery) and efferent (blood to renal vein) arterioles. The process filters excess fluid and waste products out of the blood into the urine collecting tubules of the kidney, so they can be eliminated for the body. As bizarre as it sounds, these tiny clusters collectively receive over a liter of blood each minute and generate around 1.5 liters of urine per day!