Anatomical Position Flashcards
5 Regions of the Body
1) Head and Neck
2) Upper Extremities - brachium (shoulder to elbow), antibrachium (elbow to wrist), wrist, hand
3) thorax (chest, ribs), back, abdomen
4) pelvis, perineum
5) lower limb extremity - thigh, shank (leg) , ankle, foot
Anatomical Position
Everything facing forwards, including palms. Ankles in slight dorsiflexion
Anatomical Direction
- Always use a “reference point”
- All words will basically be directions
ie/ the head is superior to the abdomen, where abdomen is our reference point
Superior
Towards the head, or above another feature
Inferior
Away from the head, or a lower structure
Anterior
Nearer to or at the front of the body
Posterior
Nearer to or at the back of the body
Medial
Nearer to or at the midline (middle) of the body
Lateral
Towards the outer edges of the body
Ipsilateral
On the same side of the body as another structure
Contralateral
On the opposite side of the body to another structure
Proximal
especially of the limbs it means closer to the torso/trunk. Also closer to the heart
Distal
farther away from the torso
Superficial
towards the surface of the body
deep
away from the surface of the body
Anatomical Planes
- all planes are 90 degrees away from each other
- all motions in the body can occur on specific planes
sagittal (median) Plane
- divides body left to right
- median plan in the exact middle
Coronal (frontal) Plane
- divides body front to back
Transverse (horizontal) Plane
divides body top to bottom
Axis of Rotation
- In which plane does the action occur?
- In which direction is the axis of rotation?
- The action occurs in the plane
perpendicular to the axis it moves about
Medial-lateral (ML)
– “Mediolateral”
- Sagittal plane movement
- ## involves flexion (lifting towards the body) and extension (pulling away from the body)
Superior-inferior (SI)
– “Vertical”
- Transverse plane of motion
- Rotational movements (lateral and medial rotation)
Anterior-posterior (AP)
– “Anteroposterior”
- Coronal (frontal) plane of motion
- adduction and abduction
Circumduction
- combines extension/flexion and adduction/abduction
- creates circular motion
Exceptional cases
- Of the ankle: inversion (sole facing in) and exertion (sole facing out)
- of the hand: gliding (either towards ulna or radius)
