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
