MEDICAL BIOLOGY, ANATOMY, HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY - Ya.I. Fedoniuk 2010

ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY

CHAPTER 2. MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM (THE PROCESS OF MOVEMENT)

AXES AND PLANES OF THE HUMAN BODY

To describe The Nature of movements in joints and THE POSITION OF an organ in space, such concepts as planes and axes are used.

There are three planes: sagittal, frontal, and horizontal (Fig. 2.1).

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Fig. 2.1. Axes and Planes of The Human Body

The sagittal plane (arrow-shaped) runs from front to back, dividing the body into left and right parts. An infinite number of such planes can be passed through the body. The plane that divides the body into two symmetrical halves is called the median plane. Only one such plane can pass through the body.

The frontal plane runs from right to left (parallel to the forehead) and divides the body into anterior and posterior parts. An infinite number of such planes can be passed through the body.

The horizontal plane runs parallel to the ground surface, dividing the body into upper and lower parts. An infinite number of such planes can also be passed through the body.

There are also three axes: sagittal, frontal, and vertical.

The sagittal axis runs from front to back, like an arrow. Around this axis, movements such as abduction and adduction, as well as left and right lateral flexion, are possible.

The frontal axis runs from right to left, and flexion and extension take place around it.

The vertical axis runs from top to bottom, and rotation outward and inward, to the right and to the left, is possible around it.

Movements involving a transition from one axis to another are called circumduction. For instance, the distal part of the upper extremity thus describes a cone.

To determine the position of an organ in space, anatomical terms of Location are used, such as: external, internal, ventral (anterior), dorsal (posterior), intermediate, middle, deep, superficial, proximal (closer to the trunk), distal (farther from the trunk), superior, inferior, medial (closer to the median plane), lateral (farther from the median plane), longitudinal, cranial (closer to the HEAD end), caudal (closer to the tail end), left, right, and transverse.