As we all know, the cardiovascular system’s major role is to deliver oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and waste materials throughout the body. The ability of the circulatory system to accommodate substantially growing bodily demands is a critical requirement because our body experiences major changes over its life cycle. The heart functions as the pump, the blood acts as conducting medium, and the vascular serves as the channel through which the blood flows. We concentrate on the heart and the aorta, which supply oxygenated blood to the circulatory system.

Our heart is made up of a smart composite structure. Atria and ventricles have distinctive microstructural arrangements, as do heart valves and ventricle walls; also, the cardiac walls have three distinct layers with varied structures and functions. The inner layer, the endocardium, the outer layer, the epicardium, and the middle layer, the myocardium, make up most of the cardiac tissue and give it the ability to pump blood. Our cardiac myocytes are active components, contracting and relaxing rapidly to produce heartbeats.

We should also note that arteries can be classed as either elastic or muscular. Elastic arteries, such as the aorta, are larger and closer to our heart, while muscular arteries are smaller and closer to our arterioles. Elastic and muscular arteries have three layers: intima, medium, and adventitia. The intima, the innermost of the three layers, comprises a single layer of endothelial cells contributing to the wall’s mechanical features. Its importance grows with age or degenerative diseases: atherosclerosis indicates a thicker and stiffer intima. Smooth muscle cells, elastin, and collagen fibrils make up the middle layer, known as the media. Vascular smooth muscles control the lumen size and distensibility of major arteries. Lastly, collagen fibers organized in helical shapes make up the adventitia, the outermost layer. It makes a significant contribution to the arterial wall’s strength.

The cardiovascular system is indeed a smart system, and you must take care of it since your cells rely on it to obtain the nutrients they require to function properly.

Reference:
TRINGELOVÁ, M., NARDINOCCHI, P., TERESI, L., & di CARLO, A. (2007). THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM AS A SMART SYSTEM. Topics on Mathematics for Smart Systems. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812706874_0018