HEART, kidney, liver and lungs - these are just some of the more well-known organs in the human body.
But now scientists claim to have discovered a new organ called the interstitium - and it's believed to be the biggest yet inside us.
The body part had gone under the radar until now but is described as a 'highway' of connective tissues and fluid-filled compartments.
Dr David Carr-Locke and Dr Petros Benias, from the US-based Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, made the discovery while looking for signs of cancer in a patient's bile duct.
It's hoped the new discovery will help medics to understand better how cancer and other diseases spread in the body.
The findings were published in Scientific Reports.
Co-author Dr. Neil Theise, who works as a liver pathologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, said the organ contains around a fifth of the body's total fluid.
“We think they act as shock absorbers,” he told New Scientist.
He also said science now has "a new window on the mechanism of tumour spread.”
We discovered a new human organ! Maybe the biggest by volume! Introducing: the interstitium! 20% of the body (~10 liters) of an average young adult. https://t.co/oNRr2YGPKf @DeepakChopra @mckafatos @BernardoKastrup @subhashkak1 @RudyTanzi
— neil theise (@neiltheise) March 27, 2018
#Interstitium This is a better picture of the interstitium - you're mostly showing the epidermis and the dermal interstitium is below that... pic.twitter.com/RmDpCLps6b
— neil theise (@neiltheise) March 28, 2018
See More: Health, Human Body, Interstitium, New York
