ANATOMY
INTRODUCTION
Anatomy deal with all branches of
knowledge which are concerned with the
study of body structure. It has come to
mean knowledge of the form and relation
of parts of the body which may be
obtained by this fundamental method of
study. It also includes more minute
structural details which are uncovered
with aid of microscope and developmental
anatomy called Embryology.
HOW DO STUDY
Regional or topographical anatomy. Term
whereby the process of gross disection the
body is studied region by region by region and
the knowledge so a acquired is formulated in
descriptions a sort geography of the body
CI
The study of the groups of similar structure
throughout the body constitutes the
systematic anatomy . (Each region tends to
consist of same kind of tissue (bones, muscles,
nerves) thus the whole body seem to consist
of limited numbers of different tissues
FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY
Uniformity of structure indicates similarity of
function and vice verse. Much can be infered
about the functional significance of a system
from a knowledge of its structural details, this
is Functional Anatomy. (Deals with
interrelationship of the system with each
other).
DEVELOPMENT
Living body is subjected to change from moment
of conception to death. The process
constituting the develop and growth of
individual (ontogeny proceed at very different
rate and involve tissue at different stages.
They can be divided into:
1)Prenatal or intrauterine develop/embryology
2) Postnatal changes
NOTE
Gross or macroscopic anatomy, The
structural details elucidated with the naked
eyes
Microscopic anatomy: Which can be
extended with hand lens the microscope and
the electron microscope.
COMPERATIVE ANATOMY
Structural changes which involve the individual
(ontogeny) are superimposed on another
developmental process which involve every
member of animal group collectively. This
evolution constitutes of ancestral history or
phylogeny of individual, so Human anatomy is
part of a large subject study known
COMPERATIVE ANATOMY and COMPERATIVE
EMBRYOLOGY.
TOPOGRAPHICAL ANATOMY
Anatomy is a descriptive science which uses a
series of clearly defined and unambiguous
terms to indicate the positions of structures
relative to each other and to the body as a
whole. In human anatomy the body is always
described erect with the palms of the hands
facing forwards, that is an ANATOMICAL
POSITION. Three artificial sets of planes are
been described forming the bases of any
description.
CT
1. Sagittal planes:- runs from front to back
and one of these divides the body into two
apparently equal halves, the middle or
median plane. Any structure which lies in
sagittal plane near to medial plane than
another is said to be medial to it, while the
other is said to be lateral; structure lying in
the median plane are said to be median.
2. Coronal planes:- run parallel to the long
axis of body and pass through it from
side to side. Those nearer the front of
body are anterior or ventral while those
lies near the back are posterior or dorsal.
Note: In human we use anterior and
posterior while dorsal and ventral are
used in quadrupedal position.
3. Transverse or horizontal planes:- Of any
two, that lying nearer the head is said to
be superior or cephalic while the other is
inferior or caudal.
Other terms\
a) Any two adjacent structures, nearer to the
surface of body is superficial or external
while the other is deep or internal,
irrespective of the plane which they lie. eg.
Teeth are deep to the lips and the scalp is
superficial to skill.
b) Relation of third structure lying between two
other is described as intermediate (middle).
c) In the limbs:- parts of limbs further from
the trunk are distal while those nearer
are proximal.
• Surfaces corresponding to palm and
sole are palmar and plantar while
opposite surface the dorsum of hand and
foot(dorsal).
• The lateral of the thumb side of
forearm and hand may be designated the
radial side from the radius, the little
finger side similarly may be called ulnar
side.
MOVEMENTs
1) Movements of trunk or neck in the sagittal
plane are known as flexion, forward bending
and extension, backward bending and a
coronal plane as lateral flexion. Rotation
turning movement around the long axis.
2) Movement of limbs are complicated, but
those in the sagittal plane are known as
flexion and extension, the former carrying
the limbs anterior and folding them, the
latter the reverse movement.
 On the other hand movement of limbs in a
coronal plane is almost limited to proximal joint
and carries the limb either by abduction or
adduction.
At the wrist when hand is slewed on forearm in
the plane of the palm and these are known as
abduction or radial deviation and adduction or
ulnar deviation.
NB. Abduction & adduction in fingers & toes
are named with reference to two other
sagittal planes – the median plane of the hand
which passes through the middle finger and
the median plane of the foot which passes
through the second toe.
Also talk on medial rotation & lateral rotation
of the limb.
Ct.
Rotation in the limbs, as in the trunk,
is represented by a movement of the
whole limb or a part of it around its
long axis, and when this rotation
brings the lateral side of the limb
anteriorly it is termed medial
rotation; the opposite is lateral
rotation.
ANATOMICAL TERMS
NOMENCLATURE
In some cases the translation of the term from
Latin or Greek
Only is given, in others this is followed by its
modern meaning where this is different, and
in the third group where there is no clear
derivation or the original meaning has been
distorted only the modern usage is given.
ct
•ACINUS. A berry growing in clusters.
•A smallest unit of the compound gland;
more commonly called an us.
•ADITUS. The entrance into a cavity.
•AFFERENT. Used to indicate that a
structure leads towards the organ it
supplies.
•ALA. A wing-like projection. Ala of sacrum.
ct
• ALVEOLUS. A small pail. Hence applied to a
tooth socket, the smallest air spaces of the
lungs; synonymous with the ancinus.
• AMPULLA. A flask. Hence a dilated portion of
a tube.
• ANSA. A loop. (Nerve).
• ANTRUM. A cave. Hence a cavity or hollow
filled with air and lined with mucous
membrane in the interior of a bone.
CT
• ANULUS. A ring.
• APONEUROSIS. A tendinous sheet covering a
muscle or extending it to the muscle.
• BLAST. A builder. Hence an ending indicating
an immature or stem cell.
• BRACHIUM. An arm.
• BURSA. A collapsed sac of fluid found
especially where a tendon or a skin slides over
bone.
CT
• CANALICULUS. Diminutive of canalis, a canal.Also
used to indicate a tunnel.
• COMMISSURE. A joining together. Used to the
nervous system to indicate bundles of nerve
fibres crossing the midline from side to side, but
also for a ridge,etc., joining the two halves of an
organ across the median plane.
• CONDYLE . A knuckle. A smooth rounded
eminence covered with articular cartilage.
• CORONA. A crown.
CT
•CORTEX. A outer covering of medulla.
•CRISTA. A sharp upstanding ridge
(cyst).
•DENS. A tooth. Odontoid – tooth – like
•EFERENT. The reverse of afferent. Of nerves,
corresponds to ‘motor’ nerves.
•EPICONDYLE. The prominence or projection
situated above a smooth articular eminence,
though that eminence may not be called a
condyle.
• FACIES. A surface.
• FALCIFORM. Sickle- shape. FALX,a sickle.
• FASCIA. A bandage or swaddling- cloth.
Hence
the membrane of fibrous
tissue which sheathes the tissue.
• FILUM. A thread.
• FOLLICULUS. A small bag.
• FORAMEN. A hole.
• FORNIX. An arch.
• FOSSA. A shallow depression
• FOVEA. A pit. Also used in place of fecet.
• FRENULUM. A small bridle or ligament.
Usually applied to a fold of skin limiting the
separation of the structures to which it is
attached.
• FUNDUS. The base of a hallow organ, ussually
opposite to its outlet.
• GANGLION. A swelling, usually small and
round. In nervous system any peripheral
collection of nerve cells.
• GENU. A knee. Hence any bend on structure.
• GLOMUS. A ball or tight meshwork of vessels.
Diminutive, glomerulus.
• HAMULUS. A hook.
• HIATUS. A slit or gap.
• HILUS. A depression where blood vessels and
nerves enter an organ.
• INCISURA. A notch.
• INFUNDIBULUM. A funnel.
• ISTHMUS. A narrow strip of tissue joining two
larger pieces. Hence a narrowing of a canal.
• LABIUM OR LIP. The raised margin of an orifice.
• LABRUM. A brim
• LABYRINTH. A maze of communicating spaces or
canal.
• LACUNA. A pit or hole.
• LAMINA OR LAMELLA. A thin plate or sheet.
• LIGAMENT. A band or tie joining two
structures. Most commonly a fibrous band
but may be composed of any tissue.
• LIMBUS. A border or margin.
• LINGULA . A thin plate or sheet.
• MACULA. A spot or stain.
• MEATUS. A passage. A short canal.
• MEDULLA. Bone marrow or the pith of plants.
Hence the central portion of any organ where
its structure is different from the outer layer
or cortex.
• MESENTERY. The fold of tissue which supports
the bowel (enteron) in the belly. Has been
expanded to include any such supporting
structure. E.g., the memesentery of the ovary,
more correctly called the mesovarium.
• NODUS OR NODE. Diminutive, nodulus or
nodule. A knot. A swelling or protuberance, a
spherical aggregation of cells. A discontinuity
in the myelin sheath of a nerve fibre.
• NUCLEUS. The kernel of a nut. In the central
nervous system refers to a collection of nerve
cells.
• OSTIUM. An entrance. Hence the opening
into a tube or space.
• PAPILLA. The nipple. Any nipple-shape
elevation
• PARENCHYMA. The proper tissue of an organ
as distinct from accessory structure such as its
fibrous capsule.
• PARIES. A wall. The walls of the abdomen. The
parietalbone.
• PEDICLE. Diminutive of pes, a foot.
PEDICULUS. The stalk of fruit. A narrow rod or
tube joining two structures.
• PELVIS. A basin.
• PLEXUS. A plaited or braided structure of
vessels or nerves.
• PLICA. A fold .
• PORUS. A pore or opening, e.g., of a meatus
• RADIX. A root or origin.
• RAMUS. A branch.
• RAPHE. A seam. The line of union of two soft
tissues.
• RETE. A net. Often a labyrinth of
communication channels.
• RETINACULUM. A stay or tie. Usually a band of
connective tissue (ligament) which hold a tendon
in place
• RIMA. A chink of cleft, e.g., the slit between the
eyelids
• SCAPHOID. Scapha , a boat. Any hollowed out
structure.
• SEPTUM. A hedge, fence or dividing wall. A
partition, usually thin.
• SINUS. A hollow or creek are two of its many
meanings. In anatomy its is applied to the airfilled cavities of the cranial bones, to large venous
spaces within the skull and elsewhere, and to
dilatations of blood vessels.
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SPINA OR SPINE. A sharp-pointed projection.
SOMATIC. Belonging to the body wall.
SPLANCHNIC. Belonging to the gut tube.
SQUAMA. A fish scale or a thin plate.
SQUAMOUS, Scaly.
STRIA. A stripe or line.
STYLOID. Any structure resembling a stylus or
stake.
SULCUS. A rut or furrow.
SYNOVIA. The fluid in joint cavities, bursae,
and tendon sheaths.
• TAENIA. A band or ribbon. Hence any ribbon –
like structure.
• TEGMEN. A cover.
• TELA. A web. Hence any thin mesh, usually of
fibrous tissue.
• TORUS. A heap or protuberance.
• TRABECULA. A small beam. Used especially
for the pieces which make up the lattice of
cancellous bone.
• TROCHLEA. A pulley or pulley-shaped surface.
• TUBER. A bump or swelling. Also tubercle and
tuberosity. Three terms used, without much
distinction, for any kind of rounded swealling
or eminence.
• VAGINA. A sheath.
• VELUM. A covering or curtain.
• VESICA. A bladder, especially the urinary
bladder, cf. cystic.
• VILLUS. Shaggy hair. Hence applicable to fine
processes visible to the naked eye, projection
from a surface.
• VISCERAL. Belonging to the gut tube/relating
to the viscera.
• ZONA. A girdle or belt. A circular or ring-like
structure.
ELEMENT
Element (rudiment):- is an aggregation of atoms
of one kind only.
Various elements in anatomy are initially
studied to facilitates the easy learning in gross
anatomy either systemic or regional as well
as mastering the histology.
1)
2)
3)
4)
TYPE OF ELEMENTS
Element of myology
Element of Arthrology
Element of Neurology
Element of Osteology e.t.c