The structure of the kidneys is truly marvellous. All design problems have been solved with such perfection that the ancient anatomists called the kidney a ‘viscus elegantissimum’, meaning ‘most elegant organ’. The kidney is really a complicated filtration plant consisting of about a million cup-shaped individual filters. Each of these filters is surrounded by a two-walled capsule and is separated by small conducting tubes which supply blood and filter out the urine simultaneously. Every day about 1.7 litres (about 3 pints) of
this diluted filtrate are transported to the bladder by way of the ureter and then expelled. The remainder is reabsorbed by the bloodstream so that the entire activity takes care of about 175 litres (about 38.5 gallons) of filtrate in one day.
The human kidney is bean-shaped. The filtering units are located in the outermost layer, the cortex. The inner structures form the medulla, consisting of the collecting tubules. The size of the tubules increases towards the inside; the large vessels and the beginning of the ureter are inside the pelvis of the kidney which, by the way, has nothing to do with the basin-shaped cavity formed by the bones in the hip region.
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