The kidneys are in the lumbar area close to the back and at the level of last two ribs. The kidneys are bean shaped and roughly fist sized. Their main function is regulate the water amount in the body, cleaning the blood by filtering and removing the metabolical waste by urine. In addition, they regulate blood pressure, control the production of blood cells and maintain bone growth.
The main working units in kidneys are filtering systems called nephrons. There are approximately 1 million nephrons in each kidney. The waste material coming to the nephron by arteries are filtered here. The produced urine pass through calyces and is collected at the center cavity of the kidney called pelvis and then removed from kidney.
URETERS
The ureters are 25-30 cm long tubular forms placed between the kidneys and urinary bladder. They are mainly composed of muscle fibers. The urine formed in the kidneys reach the urinary bladder through these narrow tubes
URINARY BLADDER
The urinary bladder is a bag shaped expandable structure which is composed of heavy muscle fibers. When the urinary bladder gets full the muscle fibers forming the bladder walls are stretched and give the urge to urinate and when the bladder wall muscles are contracted the bladder is emptied.
URETHRA
This is the part of the urinary tract which connects the urinary bladder to the outside of the body. In females it is 3-4 cm long and in males it is approximately 20 cm long.
