Microvessel

Microvessels
A rhesus macaque cortical microvessel stained for focal adhesion kinase (green), zonula occludens 1 (red) and endothelial nuclei (blue). Image by Nathan S. Ivey, PhD and Andrew MacLean, PhD.
Transmission electron microscope image of a capillary with a red blood cell within the pancreas. The capillary lining consists of long, thin endothelial cells, connected by tight junctions.
Identifiers
Code	TH H3.09.02.0.02001
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

Microvessel or microvasculature refers to the smallest systems of blood vessels in a body, including those responsible for microcirculation, the system of smaller blood vessels that distribute blood within tissues. Common examples of microvessels include:

• Arterioles, a small diameter blood vessel that extends and branches out from an artery and leads to capillaries
• Capillaries, the smallest blood vessels
• Metarterioles, a vessel that links arterioles and capillaries
• Venules, a blood vessel that allows deoxygenated blood to return from the capillary beds to the larger blood vessels called veins
• Thoroughfare channel, a venous vessel receiving blood directly from capillary beds. It is a tributary to venules

References