B3.2.1
The capillary: exchange at its narrowest
Capillaries are the site of nearly all material exchange between blood and tissue — a highly branched network of the narrowest, thinnest vessels in the body.
- Their wall is a single layer of endothelial cells, minimising diffusion distance, and the lumen is barely wider than a red blood cell — forcing cells through in single file and maximising the time each one spends in contact with the wall.
- Extensive branching gives the whole capillary bed an enormous total surface area and slows overall flow rate; small pores between endothelial cells — and, in some beds, larger fenestrations — let fluid and small solutes cross rapidly exactly where exchange must be fastest.
Why it mattersEvery adaptation here is Fick's law again: shrink the diffusion distance, grow the exchange area.
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