Terminology (lecture 1) Flashcards
def of anatomy
• Study of the structure of organisms and their parts
Anatomy in MSK
bones, joints, muscles,
nerves, vessels…
goal of anatomy
to tease apart the parts of an organism to determine their position, relations, structure, and ultimately their function
what anatomy use often
dissection
Anatomy’ from Greek:
ana- (‘up’) + tomia (‘to cut’).
what we need to study relations/positions
a common frame of reference
relations depend on what ?
on position in space
what can occur a change of position
in different directions, and uses different muscles
• Need a common ‘coordinate system’
Position ( starting position)
• Standing up
• Feet/toes pointing forward
• Arms at sides, palms facing forward
• Eyes forward (head neutral)
3 orthogonal planes with axes
• Sagittal
• Coronal
• Transverse
Sagittal plane
Divides body into left and right halves
Midline Sagittal plane
sagittal/median
off median (sagittal plane)
parasagittal
Axis through the plane (sagittal plane)
Transverse axis
Direction along axis (sagittal plane)
• Lateral = towards side
• Medial = towards midline
Coronal plane
Corona = crown
• A.k.a. frontal plane (forehead)
coronal plane divides body into:
• Anterior/ventral
• Posterior/dorsal
Axis through the coronal plane
Sagittal axis
Direction along axis (coronal plane)
• Dorsal/posterior – towards back
• Ventral/anterior – towards front
Transverse plane Divides body into:
• Superior/cranial
• Inferior/caudal (tail)
• Different transverse planes of the transverse plane
“at the level of…”
Axis through the transverse plane
Longitudinal axis
Direction along axis (transverse plane)
• Superior/cranial – towards head
• Inferior/caudal – towards ‘tail’/feet
Relative Location
• Medial/Lateral
- E.g., the thumb is lateral to the pinky
• Dorsal/Posterior vs Ventral/Anterior
- E.g., the ear is posterior to the nose
• Superior/Cranial vs Inferior/Caudal
- E.g., the shoulder is superior to the hip
Proximal vs Distal
- Proximal: closer to the trunk or origin
• Distal: further away from the trunk or origin,
towards the extremity
Superficial vs Deep
• Superficial: closer to the skin
• Deep: further away from the skin
