DOUBLE CIRCULATION

• The blood flows through Blood Vessels—the arteries and veins.

• Each artery and vein consist of three layers: ✓ Tunica intima: the inner lining of squamous
endothelium
✓ Tunica media: the middle layer of smooth muscle and elastic fibres
✓ Tunica externa: the outer layer of fibrous connective tissue with collagen

• Single circulation: the heart pumps out deoxygenated blood which is oxygenated by the gills
and supplied to the body parts from where deoxygenated blood is returned to the heart.
• Double circulation: blood circulates twice through the heart in one complete cycle.

•In amphibians, the left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the gills/lungs/skin and the right
atrium gets the deoxygenated blood from other body parts. However, they get mixed up in the
single ventricle which pumps out mixed blood (incomplete double circulation).

• Pulmonary circulation. This part of the cycle carries oxygen-depleted blood away from the
heart, to the lungs, and back to the heart.
• Systemic circulation. This is the part that carries oxygenated blood away from the heart and to
other parts of the body.
• Hepatic portal circulation: The flow of deoxygenated blood from the digestive organ to the liver
before returning to the heart is called Hepatic portal circulation.

Electrocardiograph (ECG)
• ECG is a graphical representation of the electrical activity of the heart during a cardiac cycle.
• ECG provides the following information in the form of waves/ peaks
✓ P-wave: electrical excitation (or depolarisation) of the atria, which leads to the contraction of
both the atria.
✓ QRS complex: depolarisation of the ventricles, which initiates the ventricular contraction.
✓ T-wave: the return of the ventricles from excited to the normal state (repolarisation). The end
of the T-wave marks the end of the systole.