THE L ANGUAGE OF

ANATOMY
DEFINE THE FOLLOWING TERMS

• Anatomical Position
• Directional Terms
• Regional Terms
• Anterior body landmarks
• Posterior body landmarks
• Body planes and sections
• Body cavities
ANATOMICAL POSITION
• Defined as the body’s standard
position.
• Defined to avoid confusion.
• refers to the patient standing erect
with
– the face and eyes directed forward,
– arms extended by the sides
– palms of the hands facing forward,
– heels together, and
– toes pointing anteriorly
DIRECTIONAL TERMS
• Allow medical personnel to explain where one body structure is in relation to one another

1. Superior ( Cranial or Cephalad)

2. Inferior (Caudal)
3. Ventral (Anterior)
4. Dorsal (Posterior)
5. Medial
6. Lateral
7. Intermediate
8. Proximal
9. Distal
10. Superficial (External)
11. Deep (Internal)
SUPERIOR
CRANIAL OR CEPHALAD
• Above
• Towards the head end or upper part of a structure above.

• “The forehead is superior to the nose

INFERIOR
CAUDAL
• Below
• Away from the head end or towards the lower part of a structure or the body

• “The navel is inferior to the breastbone”

VENTRAL
ANTERIOR
• In front of
• Toward or at the front of the body

• “The Breastbone is anterior to the spine”

DORSAL
POSTERIOR
• Behind
• Toward or at the backside of the body.

• “the heart is posterior to the breastbone”

MEDIAL
• Toward or at the midline of the body
• On the inner side of

• “The heart is medial to the arm”

LATERAL
• Away from the midline of the body
• On the outer side of.

• “The arm is lateral to the chest”

INTERMEDIATE
• Between a more medial and a more lateral structure.

• “the collarbone is intermediate between the breastbone and the shoulder”

PROXIMAL
• Close to the origin of the body part
• Close to the point of attachment of a limb to the body trunk.

• The elbow is proximal to the wrist.

DISTAL
• Farther from the origin of a body part
• Farther from the point of attachment of a limb to the body trunk.

• The knee is distal to the thigh.

SUPERFICIAL
EXTERNAL
• Towards or at the body surface

• “The skin is superficial to the skeleton”

DEEP
INTERNAL
• Away from the body surface

• “the lungs are deep to the rib cage”

REGIONAL
TERMS
T E R M S U S E D T O D E S I G N AT E S P E C I F I C
B O DY A R E A S
BODY LANDMARKS
BODY PLANES
• Sagittal Plane – lengthwise cut
along the LONGITUDINAL plane of
the body. Divides the body into LEFT
and RIGHT parts.
• Frontal Section – cut along a
lengthwise plane that divides the
body into ANTERIOR and
POSTERIOR parts.
• Transverse Section- cut along a
HORIZONTAL plane, dividing the
body organ into SUPERIOR and
INFERIOR parts.
 BODY CAVITIES
• DORSAL CAVITY
• CRANIAL CAVITY- space inside the bony skull
• SPINAL CAVITY- extends from the cranial cavity
nearly to the end of the vertebral column

• VENTRAL CAVITY
– THORACIC CAVITY- also called chest cavity,
the second largest hollow space of the body. It is
enclosed by the ribs, the vertebral column, and the
sternum, or breastbone, and is separated from the
abdominal cavity (the body's largest hollow space) by
a muscular and membranous partition, the diaphragm.
– ABDOMINOPELVIC CAVITY – cavity inferior to
the diaphragm
• Contains the stomach, liver, intestine reproductive
organs, bladder and rectum
4 ABDOMINOPELVIC QUADRANTS
9 ABDOMINOPELVIC REGIONS
 THANK YOU!
GOD BLESS YOU