What term is used to describe vessels involved in regulating blood flow, also known as arterioles?

The term used to describe vessels involved in regulating blood flow, specifically referring to arterioles, is "resistance vessels." Arterioles are small-diameter blood vessels that lead into capillaries and play a crucial role in controlling blood flow and pressure throughout the circulatory system. They achieve this by constricting and dilating, which adjusts the resistance to blood flow based on the metabolic demands of surrounding tissues. This property makes them essential in regulating systemic vascular resistance.

In contrast, conductance vessels, which include larger arteries, primarily function to transport blood with minimal resistance but do not have the same regulatory capability as arterioles. Exchange vessels, primarily capillaries, are where the exchange of gases, nutrients, and waste occurs between blood and tissues but do not regulate blood flow actively like arterioles do. Capacitance vessels refer to veins that store blood and can accommodate varying volumes without significantly increasing pressure, but they also do not have a role in the active regulation of blood flow like the resistance vessels do.