The Normal Kidney
Anatomy and Function:
The Kidney is a bean shaped organ, about the size of the human fist. Humans have two kidneys. Located in the back of the abdominal area, each kidney resides underneath the right and left ribcage areas. The Kidney has two compartments: the Corticomedullary system and Collecting System. The Corticomedullary system is responsible for producing urine. The Collecting system is a collection of funneling channels that collect urine into a main funnel (renal pelvis) before it flows out of the kidney.
The main function of a kidney is to filter the blood and produce urine. The kidney purifies blood and sifts the waste material out of our body. The waste material is excreted as urine. The kidney also is essential in maintaining our body's hydration state, electrolyte balance, and blood pressure control. Furthermore, the kidney produces a hormone, called Hematopoietin, which controls the amount of red blood cell production in our body.
Once the urine is produced by the cortex and enters the collecting system, it flows down a tube called the ureter into the bladder. The bladder will store urine, until a person perceives his/her bladder full. At that point, one voids the urine out of the body.