Human Anatomy

Lec. 3/ Dr. Mortadha Sami

The Basic structures

The Bone
The bone is a connective tissue, made of cells, fibers and extracellular matrix infiltrated
with inorganic salts like calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate to provide hardness and
rigidity.
Bone exists in two forms:
1. Compact (cortical): appears as solid mass.
2. Cancellous (spongy): consists of branching network of trabeculae.

①
Classification of Bones
The bones can be classified:

①according to their position in the skeleton into:

a. The axial skeleton consisting of the; skull, mandible, hyoid bone, vertebral column
(including sacrum and the coccyx), sternum and the ribs.
b. The appendicular skeleton consisting of the; shoulder girdles, arms, hands, pelvic
gridle, thighs and legs, feet .

The skeleton is bilaterally symmetrical and has approximately 206 bones.

②
②according to their shape into:
1. Long bones: are present in the extremities. They have a main part or shaft called
diaphysis. The two ends form the epiphysis. There is medullary cavity containing bone
marrow tissue in the shaft. Examples: Femur and humerus.
2. Short: bones are small size bones usually cuboidal in shape. Examples: Tarsals,
Carpals.
3. Flat bones: consist of two layers of compact bone with spongy or cancellous bone in
between. Examples: Sternum.
4. Irregular bones: have irregular shapes. They have compact bone surrounding spongy
bone in between. Examples: Vertebrae.
5. Sesamoid bones (= seed like): are small bones, developed in tendons of certain
muscles at sites of friction or pressure. Examples: Patella.
6. Pneumatic bones: those are the skull bones having air filled cavities called air sinuses.
Examples: Frontal sinuses, maxilla sinuses.

③
Bone Marrow
Bone marrow is soft, gelatinous tissue that fills the medullary cavities, the centers of
bones. The two types of bone marrow are:
1. Red bone marrow: known as myeloid tissue.
2. Yellow bone marrow: or fatty marrow.
From birth to early adolescence, the majority of our bone marrow is red marrow. As we
grow and mature, increasing amounts of red marrow are replaced by yellow marrow. The
bone marrow is where circulating blood cells are produced; by a process known as
hematopoiesis.

④
The Cartilages
The cartilage is a firm and resilient structure that forms a small part of skeleton. It is a
form of connective tissue in which the living cells chondrocytes are embedded in the gel-
matrix. There are three types of cartilages:
1. The hyaline cartilage has great resistance to wear and tear and has a very large amount
of amorphous intercellular matrix. It is found at articular surfaces of the joints, epiphyseal
plate of growing bones.
2. The white fibro-cartilage has large number of collagen fiber bundles embedded in
small amount of matrix. The white fibro-cartilage is found at intra-articular disc of the
joints, inter-vertebral discs of the vertebral column.
3. The yellow elastic cartilage has a large number of elastic fibers embedded in the
matrix. The yellow elastic cartilage is stretchable and more resilient than other two forms
of cartilage. The yellow elastic cartilage is found at cartilage of external auditory meatus,
cartilage of auditory tube.

The Blood Vessels

Blood vessels deliver nutrients, oxygen and hormones to cells of the body and remove
metabolic waste products and CO2 from them through blood. There are five main types of
blood vessels:
1. Arteries: The arteries are thick-walled vessels, have no valves, carry the oxygenated
blood from the heart to their small branches the arterioles and distribute it to the
body organs and tissues. Only the pulmonary arteries are carrying the
deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs.
2. Arterioles: An arteriole is a small-diameter blood vessel in the microcirculation that
extends and branches out from an artery and leads to capillaries.
3. Capillaries: Are microscopic vessels in the form of a network connecting the
arterioles to the venules. Their diameter is just sufficient for a single red blood cell to
pass through.
4. Venules: The Venules receive blood from capillaries. They have a larger diameter
than arterioles.
5. Veins: Veins are thin-walled blood vessels that carry the deoxygenated blood from
venules to heart. Large veins are formed by union of smaller veins. They are often
provided with valves which serve to prevent the reflux of the blood. Only the
pulmonary veins are carrying the oxygenated blood.

⑤
 The arterio-venous anastomosis are sites where blood is transferred from the arteries to
the veins without passing through capillary plexus.

⑥
Lymphatic system
The lymphatic system is essentially a drainage system that help rid the body of toxins,
waste and other unwanted materials. The primary function of the lymphatic system is to
transport lymph which is a clear, colorless fluid, formed by the excess tissue fluid in the
tissue spaces, containing infection-fighting white blood cells, throughout the body.

The lymphatic system consists of:

1. Lymphatic tissues: are connective tissue that contains large numbers of lymphocytes
which are essential for the immunologic defenses of the body against bacteria and viruses.
These tissues organized into organs such as: thymus gland, spleen and tonsils.

2. Lymphatic vessels: consist of a network of fine vessels called lymph capillaries that
drain lymph from the tissue’s spaces. The capillaries are in turn drained by small lymph
vessels. Lymph vessels have numerous valves along their course.

3. The lymph nodes: lymph nodes also called lymph glands, are small, round or bean-
shaped clusters of cells, examples; axillary lymph nodes, inguinal lymph nodes.
Inside lymph nodes are different types of immune system cells, play a vital role to fight
off infections and filter the lymph from all foreign particles before it returned to the
bloodstream.
The afferent lymph vessels carry the lymph to the nodes while the efferent lymph vessels
are transport lymph away from node.

4. Lymph ducts: The lymphatic vessels united to form largest lymph vessels called lymph
ducts. The lymph reaches the bloodstream at the root of the neck by the right lymphatic
duct and the thoracic duct.

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