General anatomy

An overview

Learning Objective
At the end of the lecture the students should be able to 1. Define anatomy 2. Understand the importance of anatomic history 3. Identify the subdivisions of anatomy 4. Explain the anatomial planes and sections

Definition

Anatomy is the branch of biology which deals with the structure of animals and plants

 Anatome (Greek word) - cutting up Anatomy forms the foundation of medicine

 Anatomy today make use of knowledge from many fields of science to explore and understand how the structure of an organism s cells, tissues and organs relates to their function

History
The study of anatomy begins at least as early as 1600 BC

History
Greek period (AD)
Hippocrates- Father of medicine Herophilus- Father of anatomy---first to dissect human body

 Hippocrates (Greek physician) 460-337 BC- is the earliest medical scientist His work demonstrates a basic understanding of muscular skeletal structure and function of certain organs

 Aristotle (4th century) produced a more empirically founded system based on animal dissection

 Roman period (BC)

Galen- Prince of physicians

 14th century
Mundinus (Italian)- the restorer of anatomy

 15th century
Leonardo da Vinci (Italy) originator of crosssectional anatomy

 17th century
William Hunter (London) anatomist and obstetrician

st 1

cadaveric dissection

Occurred In the 4th century BC when Herophilus and Erasistratus performed dissection of cadavers in Alexenderia

 The first major anatomist was a great ancient medical practitioner, Greek physician Cladius Galen ( AD 131-200) dissected and observed accurately all kinds of animals

Modern Anatomy
Was founded by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) He dissected the human bodies and pointed out many Galenis observations

Contribution of Muslim physicians & scientists

After the fall of Roman empire, the study of anatomy became stagnant in Christian Europe but flourished in the medieval Islamic world

 The Persian Physician Avicenna (980-1037) transformed the Galenic teaching on Anatomy His book remains the most influential and authoritative book

 Ibn-al-Nafis (1213-1288) was an Arabian Physician He was one of the earliest proponents of human dissection and postmortem autopsy

 Ibn-e-Zuhr (Avenzoar) 1091-1161 was the first Arab Physician known to have carried out the dissection Similarly other physicians contribute a lot o the science of anatomy

Division of Anatomy
The subject of Anatomy can be divided into two components 1. Macroscopic or gross anatomy-structures can be seen with the naked eyes 2. Microscopic or histology/ cytology- structures can be seen with the help of a microscope

Subdivisions of anatomy
Cadaveric anatomy Living anatomy

Subdivision:cont
Developmental anatomy (embryology) Microscopic anatomy (Histology)

Subdivision:cont
Topographic anatomy (surface anatomy) Radiographic anatomy

Explaination
Regional anatomy- deals with the different regions of the body like the limbs/abdomen/head and neck ect Systemic anatomy- deals with different systems of the body. These organs work in a coordinated manner to perform a particular function e.g CVS, Respiratory system, GIT

 Developmental anatomy (embryology) deals with the formation of different organs and their gradual transformation into a complete structure Not restricted to embryo

 Histology- study of tissues and their structure at microscopic level Clinical anatomy- related to clinical sciences e.g difficulty in knee bending after RTA Surgical anatomy- anatomical structure related to surgeons i.e know how of the basic anatomy encountered during surgery

 Radiological anatomy- real body scan in living subjects like MRI, CT, X-ray

Comparative anatomy Physical anthropology (different races) Applied anatomy (clinical) Experimental anatomy

Department of anatomy Strategies

LECTURE

PBL

TUTORIAL

SKILLS

General anatomy
interactive
An overview

CBD

MICROSCOPIC

didactic scenario based ASSIGNMENT PBL DISSECTION

QUIZ

MUSEUM/ MODELS

POSITIONAL TERMS
The positional terms usually go in pairs For example superior and inferior go together Superior means above and inferior means below

So you could write a statement stating that the head is superior to the chest or to be more specific the cephalon is superior to the thorax AND The reverse would also be true: The thorax is inferior to the cephalon

Here are some other terms: Anterior means towards the front Posterior means towards the back Ex: the sternum is anterior to the heart OR the heart is posterior to the sternum

Medial means toward the midline of the body. Lateral means away from the midline Ex: the ears are lateral to the nose AND The nose is medial to the ears

Proximal means towards the trunk of the body Distal means away from the trunk Proximal and distal are usually used when describing structures in the extremities Ex: the elbow is proximal to the wrist The wrist is distal to the elbow

Superficial means toward the surface Deep means under the surface Ex: the skin is superficial to the stomach The stomach is deep to the skin

Ipsilateral means on the same side Contralateral means on the opposite side Ex: the right shoulder and elbow are ipsilateral The right shoulder and left elbow are contralateral

ANATOMICAL PLANES
Next we will look at how anatomical planes divide the body.

Body Planes
Sagittal
Divides body into right and left portions.

Transverse
Divides body into superior and inferior portions.

Coronal
Divides body into anterior and posterior portions.

References
KLM Snell Gray s Sadler TW. Medical embryology. 10th Ed. Lippincott. Philadelphia;2007.

Persaud M. The developing human. 7th Ed. Saunders.Philadelphia;2003. www.electricscotland.com