The porta hepatis contains the hepatic artery and hepatic portal vein, which carry blood to the liver, and the left and the right hepatic ducts, which conduct bile toward the duodenum. Connective tissue septa divide the live segments into many hexagon-shaped lobules with a portal triad at each corner. The triads are so named because they contain three structures derived from porta hepatis : branches of the hepatic artery, hepatic portal vein and hepatic ducts. The hepatic artery branches and the hepatic portal branches join enlarged capillaries called hepatic sinusoids join a central vein located in the center of each lobule like the spokes of a wheel, surrounding the hepatic sinusoids. The hepatic cords are composed of hepatocytes, the functional cells of the live. A cleftlike lumen, the bile canaliculus, lies between the hepatocytes within each cord. The bile canaliculi join the hepatic duct branches in the portal triad.