Anatomy and Physiology / Physics
Project involving both courses
Huntsinger / Gleue
In this project, we will take several anatomy and physiology students and several physics students and
create groups. Each group will research one of the following joints of the human body and analyze the
anatomy and physiology and the physics of the body part and present their research to the class in a
powerpoint.
The following musculoskeletal body parts are chosen because they are joints (or combination of several
joints) that have some physical motion associated with it.
Musculo-Skeletal Body Part
Wrist
Elbow
Shoulder
Neck Vertebrae (Cervical)
Lower Vertebrae (Lumbar)
Jaw (mandible, TMJ)
Musculo-Skeletal Body Part
Hip
Knee
Ankle
Fingers and Hand (not wrist or
thumb)
Toes and Foot
Thumb and Hand
A/P & Physics project, p. 1, 6/17/2009
Items to discuss in your group’s powerpoint:
(1) The anatomy of the joint. Discuss muscles, tendons, bones, etc.
Discuss the joint’s innervation and vascularization.
(2) How can the joint be classified? (for example, the knee is a synovial, hinge joint)
(3) Discuss how the joint moves. Here are some possible motion types:
Abduction: movement away from the mid-line of the body.
Adduction: movement towards the mid-line of the body.
Extension: straightening limbs at a joint.
Lexion: bending the limbs at a joint.
Circumduction: a circular movement around a fixed point
(4) Discuss possible pathologies and injuries to the joint (for example, a common injury to the knee
is an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) tear.
(5) Discuss possible treatment to the injuries stated above.
Keep these things in mind and follow these guidelines.
a. USE a minimum of five sources of information in your powerpoint
b. Include diagrams, pictures, medical images (x-ray, MRI, CAT scans, etc.), and/or video in your
powerpoint/presentation.
c. Cite your sources at the end of your powerpoint.
d. Be careful that no patient information is presented.
e. Make each presentation around 15 minutes in length (fall within the 12-18 minute range).
f.
Each person in the group must present and speak.
g. Make sure your powerpoint slides are visible to all classmates in the room. Keep text large and
to a minimum.
h. Do not read your powerpoint off the LCD. Your group can use a note card if needed.
i.
Use or make an anatomical model to help you with your presentation.
A/P & Physics project, p. 2, 6/17/2009
Helpful websites:
http://www.physics3110.org/generalinformation.html (This is a site from a biophysics course from the
University of Utah. It is maintained by Professor Richard Ingebretsen, M.D., Ph.D. There are many links
from the site for course powerpoints and information. He has given us permission to use material from
this site.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint (This has information about joints)
http://www.shockfamily.net/skeleton/JOINTS.HTML (This site has illustrations of different joints)
http://www.pixmed.no/en (Pixmed is a medical animation company from Norway. There may be an
animation here that might be helpful. There is a youtube channel that might also prove helpful for you:
http://www.youtube.com/user/PixmedAS)
Here are some sites with additional possible medical animations/videos
http://catalog.nucleusinc.com/categories.php?CatID=000&TL=1
http://www.learnerstv.com/course.php?cat=Medical
http://www.medflix.com/index.html
http://www.biodigitalsystems.com/portfolio.htm
http://www.youtube.com/user/biodigitalsystems
http://www.metacafe.com/tags/biodigital/
http://www.medical-animations.com/gallery.php
Other key words that can help you find information:
Biomechanics
Gait (walking and running)
Sports medicine
Arthrokinematics
Osteokinematics
Kinesiology
Exercise Physiology/Science
Erogonomics
Orthopedic Medicine
Human Kinetics
A/P & Physics project, p. 3, 6/17/2009