Introduction to Anatomy

Specialized Branches of Anatomy

HISTORY  Pathological anatomy- study of the structural
changes caused by disease.
 From three hundreds BC and second century.  Radiographic anatomy- study of internal
 Scientist, doctors and artist would experiment structures visualized by X-ray
and practice on the dead body.  Molecular biology- study of anatomical
 Cadavers were positioned flat on their backs, structures at a sub-cellular level.
thus making it easier to draw and reference from
that position.
 Many artists such as Leonardo da Vinci began
Medical Terminology
to study, draw and diagram the human body.

DEFINITION Basic Anatomical terminology

 It is a Greek word (Ana-Tome): meaning cutting

up.
 Anatomy- the study of the structure of body
parts and their relationship to one another.

SUBDIVISIONS

 Gross anatomy
 Microscopic anatomy
 Developmental anatomy
 Specialized branches of anatomy

Gross Anatomy
 Regional- all structures in one part of the body
(such as the abdomen or leg)
 Systemic- gross anatomy of the body studied by
the system.
 Surface- study of the internal structures as they
relate to the overlying skin.

Microscopic anatomy
 Cytology- study of the cell.
 Histology- study of the tissues.

Developmental Anatomy
 Embryology- study of the developmental
changes of the body before birth.
 Positions and directions
 Terms of positions and direction describe the
position of one body part relative to another.
 It usually along one of the three major body
planes.

Some anatomical directions

 Superior and Inferior
 Anterior and Posterior
 Dorsal and Ventral
 Proximal and Distal Superior
 Medial and Lateral  Refers to a structure being closer to the head
or higher than another structure in the body.
Anatomical Position Inferior
 The Anatomical position is a standardized  Refers to a structure closer to the feet or
method of observing or imaging the body that lower than another structure in the body.
allows precise and consistent anatomical
references. Medial
 When in the anatomical position, the subject  Refers to a structure being closer to the
stands. midline or median plane of the body than
o Standing upright another structure of the body.
o Facing the observer, head level
o Eyes facing forward Lateral
o Feet flat on the floor  Refers to a structure being farther away from
o Arms at the sides the midline than another structure of the
o Palms turned forward (ventral) body.
 Anterior
 Refers to a structure being more in front
than another structure in the body.

Posterior
 Refers to a structure being more in back than
another structure in the body.

Distal
(Reference to the extremities only)

 Refers to a structure being further away

from the root of the limb than another
structure of the limb.

Proximal
(Reference to the extremities only)

 Refers to a structure being closer to the root

of the limb than another structure in that
limb.
Distal / Proximal Cont.
 When you divide the skeleton into Axial
(blue) and Appendicular (yellow) you can
better understand the extremities and their
roots.
 Prone
 Lying face down

Superficial Supine

 Refers to a structure being closer to the  Lying face up

surface of the body than another structure

Deep
 Refers to another structure being closer to
the core of the body than another structure.

Unilateral
 Pertaining to one side of the body

Bilateral
 Pertaining to both sides of the body
  Fixed lines of reference along which the
body is often divided or sectioned to
Basic body planes or sections facilitate viewing of its structures.
 Allow one to obtain a three-dimensional
These terms are used for planes or sections that cut the
perspective by studying the body from
body, organs, tissues, or cells.
different views.

Sagittal Plane
 The plane dividing the body into right and left
proportions.
Example of how planes would cut the brain  Midsagittal or median are names for the plane
dividing the body into equal right and left halves

Frontal Plane
 The plane dividing the body into front and back
proportions.
 Also called the coronal plane.

Transverse Plane
 The horizontal plane dividing the body into
upper and lower proportions.
 Also called the horizontal plane

Body planes and sections

Anatomical Planes Cut into sections along a flat surface called a plane.
 o In the Fetal position we are flexing our
joints.
Extension

 Straightening a joint or increasing the angle

between two bones.
o In the anatomical position we are
extending our joints.
Hyperextension

 Excessive extension of the parts at a joint

beyond anatomical position.

Sectional Anatomy
 Describe three-dimensional structures.

Sectional Planes

 Transverse Planes – divide the body into Adduction

superior-inferior sections.
 Frontal Planes – divide the body into interior-  Moving a body parts towards the midline of
posterior sections. the body.
 Sagittal Planes – divide the body into left and Abduction
right sections. Exactly equal halves - midsagittal
section.  Moving a body part away from the midline of
the body.

Movements

Pronation

 Turning down the arm or foot downward

 Palm or sole of the foot down (prone)
Flexion Supination
 Bending a joint or decreasing the angle between  Turning the arm or foot upward.
two bones.  Palm or sole of the foot up (supine)
 External rotation

 Rotation of the hip or shoulder away from the

midline

Retraction

 Moving a part backward

Protraction Lateral flexion

 Moving a part backward  Side-bending, left or right

Elevation
MOVEMENTS OF THE FOOT
 Raising a part
Depression

 Lowering a part

Inversion

 Turning the sole of the foot inward

Eversion

 Turning the sole of the foot outward

Rotation Dorsiflexion

 Turning on a single axis  Ankle movement bringing the foot towards the
shin
Circumduction
Plantarflexion
 Tri-planar, circular motion at the hip or shoulder
 Ankle movement pointing the foot onward
Internal rotation
MOVEMENTS OF THE WRIST & THUMB
 Rotation of the hip or shoulder toward the
Radial deviation
midline
 Movement of the wrist towards the radius or Integumentary system includes:
lateral side.
 Skin (cutaneous membrane)
Ulnar deviation  Subcutaneous tissue below the skin
 Accessory structures
 Movement of the wrist towards the ulna or
o Sweat glands
medial side.
o Sebaceous or oil glands
Opposition o Hair
o Nails
 Movement of the thumb across the palm of the
hand. The skin as an Organ

Radial deviation

 Movement of the wrist towards the radius or

lateral side
Ulnar deviation
Anatomy of Skin
1. Human skin is divided into two layers.
 Movement of the wrist towards the ulna or
o Epidermis (outermost)
medial side
o Dermis (innermost)
Opposition 2. Separated by basement membrane (BM)
3. A layer loose of connective tissue beneath the
 Movement of the thumb across the palm of the
dermis called hypodermis, or subcutis.
hand.

Skin facts
 Largest organ of the body (15% of the body
weight).
 Weighs about 6 pounds
 Average about 3,000 square inches
 Fastest to regenerate
 Covers 1.5-2 square meters
 Most skin is 1-2 mm thick but can range
from .5-6mm
 Receives 1/3 of the body’s blood volume

THE INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM Major functions of skin

 Regular body temp o Composed of stratified squamous
epithelium.
 Protect underlying tissue
 Excrete h20 and salt
 Dermis – inner
o Anchored to a subcutaneous layer
 Receives stimuli for touch, pain, temp change,
etc.  Hypodermis
 Immunity  Integumentary glands
 metabolism o Sweat, oil, etc.
 Hair and nails
Body temperature

 When your body temperature rises, the many Different layers of the skin and their
small blood vessels in the dermis dilate, blood component
flow increases, and body heat is lost by
radiation.
o Also glands in the dermis produce sweat
in response to an increase in body
temperature.
o As sweat evaporates, water changes
state from liquid to vapor and heat it
lost.
 When you are cold, the blood vessels in the skin
constrict and the heat is conserved.
Vitamin D Epidermis
 When exposed to UV light, dermis cells produce  Outer layer of skin
Vitamin D that aids in absorption of calcium
 Composed of stratified squamous epithelium
into blood.
 Avascular as it has no blood supply of its own
Pimples and Wrinkles  Oxygen and nutrients diffuse from the
underlying dermis
 Pimples (acne) are a build of dirt and oils.
 Wrinkles occur because of getting less elastic Epidermis (cont: )
with age and producing less oil becoming dryer.
 the epidermis is a keratinized stratified
squamous epithelium.
 Five structurally different layers can be
Layers of the Skin identified:

CELLS OF THE EPIDERMIS

 Epidermis – outer
 o Keratinocytes (90%) – waterproofs and o Keratin hardens and flattens the cells as
protects skin, nails, hair, stratum they move outwards and it waterproofs
corneum the skin.
o Melanocytes (8%) – produce melanin The Stratum Spinosum (second layer)
o Merkel cells – slow mechanoreceptors o The cells become irregularly arranged.
o Langerhans’ Cells – immunological o The cells are often separated by narrow,
defense translucent clefts.
o These clefts are spanned by spine-like
LAYERS OF THE EPIDERMIS cytoplasmatic extensions of the cells
o The stratum basale (hence the name of the layer and of its
o The stratum spinosum cells: spinous cells), which interconnect
o The stratum granulosum the cells of this layer.
o The stratum lucidum
o The startum corneum The Stratum Granulosum (third layer)
o It consists, in thick skin, of a few layers
of flattened cells.
o Only one layer may be visible in thin
skin.

The Stratum Lucidum (fourth layer)

o It consists of layers of flattened dead
cells.
o Nuclei already begin to degenerate in
the outer part of the stratum granulosum.
o In the stratum lucidum, faint nuclear
outlines are visible in only a few of the
cells. The stratum lucidum can usually
not be identified in thin skin.

The Stratum Corneum (fifth layer)

The Stratum Basale (first layer) o It is the final layer of epidermis and the
 It is the deepest layer of the epidermis (closest to cells are keratinized and form a layer
the dermis). that is about 30 cells thick.
o Individual cells are difficult to observe
 It consists of a single layer of a columnar or
cuboidal cells which rest on the basement because:
membrane.  Nuclei can no longer be
identified,
 Basal cells are the stem cells of the epidermis
 The cells are very flat
and their mitotic activity replenishes the cells in
 The space between the cells has
more superficial layers as these are eventually
been filled with lipids, which
shed from the epidermis.
cement the cells together into a
continuous membrane.
The Stratum Basale (first layer cont: )
o The renewal of the epidermis takes
The Stratus Corneum (fifth layer cont)
about 3 to 4 weeks in humans as
o Closest to the surface of the epidermis,
millions of cells are produced daily.
the stratum corneum has a somewhat
o Cells die as they are pushed away from
looser appearance.
the source or nourishment.
o Cells are constantly shed fromt this part
o Cells undergo keratinization as a tough
of the stratum corneum. This layer
protein
makes up three fourths of the epidermal
thickness.
 o The protection of the body by the and cells of peripheral nerves and their
epidermis is due to the functional end-organ receptors.
features of the stratum corneum.
Fibrous

 Collagen & reticulin – provide tensile

Dermis or Corium strength
 Elastic fibers – provide for restoration
 Inner layer of the skin of a shape after a deformation
 The dermis, or corium, consists of defense Ground substance
fibrous connective tissue with numerous
collagenous and elastic fibers.  Gyclosaminoglycans: hyalauronic acid,
chondroitin sulfate, and dermatan
 The dermis is much thicker than the epidermis.
sulfate.
In thick skin, dermal papillae create a very
irregular border between epidermis and dermis. The Hypodermis
Dermis: The inner layer of skin  Known as a subcutaneous tissue or superficial
fascia.
The Dermis
 Has more adipose than dermis
 Functions
o Energy reservoir
o Thermal insulation
 Hypodermic injections
o Into subcutaneous tissue since highly
vascular

The hypodermis

Layers of the Dermis

This layer contains adipose tissue and serves to attach

the dermis to its underlying tissues.

COMPONENTS OF THE DERMIS

Accessory Organs of the Skin
1. Hair
Cellular
2. Skin glands
 Fibroblasts (synthesize collagen, elastin 3. Nails
and reticulin), histiocytes, endothelial
Accessory Structures of the Skin
cells, perivascular macrophages and
dendritic cells, mast cells, smooth cells, Hair
  A characteristic feature of the human skin is o Flat shafts – curly or kinky hair
the apparent lack of hair on most of the body Perms use chemicals to flatten shafts and make
surface. This is actually not quite true. Most hairs curly.
of the skin is haired although the hair in  Alopecia is the term for hair loss.
most areas is short, fine and only light
pigmented.
 Truly hairless are only the palms of hands
and soles of feet, the distal phalanges and
sides of fingers and toes and parts of the
external genitalia.
Nails
Hair (cont:)  Plates of stratified squamous epithelial
 In those parts of the skin cells with hard keratin.
which we perceive as  Protect distal ends of phalanges
“hairy” we find terminal  Cells are keratinized in the nail root
hairs. The free part of each
 Nail growth occurs in the lunula
hair is called the shaft.
 Cuticle is a fold of stratum corneum on
 The root of each hair is
the proximal end of nail.
anchored in a tubular
invagination of the
epidermis, the hair follicle,
which extends down into Exocrine Glands
the dermis and, usually, a The exocrine glands are:
short distance into the
hypodermis.
 Sweat glands or sudoriferous glands are
 The hair that you groom
simple coiled tubular glands. They are
daily is actually dead
divided into two principal types: eccrine
keratinized cells.
and apocrine.
 Each hair has an associated
o Eccrine glands are the most
bundle of smooth muscle,
common. Their secretory potion
the arrector pili muscle. The
can be located in the dermis or
muscle inserts with one end
in the hypodermis. They
to the papillary layer of the
produce sweat, a watery mixture
epidermis and with the other
of salts, antibodies and
end to the dermal sheath of
metabolic wastes. Sweat
the hair follicle. This makes
prevents overheating the body
your hair stand up on its
and thus regulate body
end.
temperature.
o Apocrine glands are found
Hair color and texture mainly in the skin of the
armpits, of the anogenital areas
 Hair color is determined by the amount and and of the areola breats. Their
type of melanin present. secretory portion can be located
 Melanocytes become less active with age. in the dermis or the hypodermis.
Gray hair is a mixture of pigmented and Their secretion is more viscous
non-pigmented hairs. than that of the eccrine glands.
 Red hair results from a modified type of They start secreting at puberty
melanin that contains iron. and may be analogous to the
 The shape of the hair determined texture. sexual scent glands of other
o Round shaft – straight hiar animals.
o Oval shaft – wavy hair o Ceruminous glands (or ear wax
glands) and mammary glands
 are modified apocrine sweat  Skin weighs about 2.5 kilograms – the
glands. largest organ in the body.
 What hurts if you pull it, but doesn’t
Physiology of the Skin hurt if you cut it? Your hair, of course!
 Skin is elastic – it springs back into
 Protection – the epidermis provides a
shape when stretched. Some medicines
barrier to fluid loss from the body (this
(estrogen, nicotine) can pass through the
protective function is impaired in
skin, but other cannot (insulin). Why is
patients with burns. )
that? Because only fat-soluble
 Barrier infection – intact skin prevents
substances can enter skin, not water-
the entry of micro-organisms into the
soluble ones.
body. Antimicrobial proteins are
produced by the epidermis – they act by  Your hair strands on end and you
piercing holes in the outer membranes of develop ‘goose bumps’ because there
micro-organisms. are tiny muscles attached to the hair
 Resistance to water and tear – follicles and they contract when you are
continuous replacement of the outer frightened or cold.
epidermal cells that wear off- new cells
are produced in the deepest layer of the
epidermis and gradually migrate towards
the surface.
 Skin can excrete water, salt, and small
amounts of waste products such as urea.
 Vitamin D can be synthesized in skin
exposed to sunlight (Vitamin D can also
be obtained from the diet)
 The skin provides a barrier to ultraviolet
light. The melanocytes contain melanin,
which absorbs UV radiation, and also
distribute the pigment to neighboring
cells. Skins exposed to sunlight becomes
wrinkled and creased. Changes seem to
be due to disruption of collagen and
elastin in dermis, and loss of fibroblasts
which make new proteins.
 The integumentary system is well-
supplied with receptors for touch, pain
and temperature, vibration and pressure.
 Sensory information is relayed to the
central system via sensory nerves.
 Social interactions are influenced by
facial expressions, blushing, touching,
etc.

Fun facts
 House dust is mainly skin flakes!
 if you laid out all your skin on a flat
surface, it would have an area of about 2
square meters