The windpipe, a cartilage-reinforced tube that conducts air between the larynx and the bronchi.
Structure
The trachea is roughly 10 to 12 centimeters long and 2 centimeters wide in adults. Sixteen to twenty C-shaped cartilage rings keep it open while allowing the esophagus behind it to expand during swallowing.
Lining
The inner surface is lined with pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium and mucus-producing goblet cells. Cilia sweep trapped particles and pathogens upward toward the throat for clearance.
Branching
At its lower end the trachea divides at the carina into the left and right main bronchi, which lead into each lung.
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