INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN

ANATOMY

PERIS MACHARIA.

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The Human Body – An Orientation

• Anatomy – study of the structure and

shape of the body and its parts
• Physiology – study of how the body
and its parts work or function

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Subdivisions of anatomy
a) Gross anatomy= or macroscopic anatomy/
morphology/-topographic anatomy
b) Histology= or microscopic anatomy/
histomorphology
c) Embryology:- developmental anatomy
d) Radiological anatomy- this is the transition from
laboratory to the live anatomy in the ward set up.
NB> All this have Clinical correlates

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.

• Gross Anatomy
• Large structures
• Easily observable
• Spatial
arrangement of
target organs
• Routes of drug
administration

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Anatomy – Levels of Study

• Microscopic Anatomy
• Very small
structures
• Can only be
viewed with
a microscope

Figure 14.4
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Levels of Structural Organization

Figure 1.1
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Organ System Overview

• Integumentary
• Forms the external body
covering
• Protects deeper tissue
from injury
• Synthesizes vitamin D
• Location of cutaneous
nerve receptors
Figure 1.2a
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Organ System Overview

• Skeletal
• Protects and supports
body organs
• Provides muscle
attachment for movement
• Site of blood cell
formation
• Stores minerals

Figure 1.2b
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Organ System Overview

• Muscular
• Allows locomotion
• Maintains posture
• Produces heat

Figure 1.2c
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 Organ System Overview

• Nervous(CNS- brain and spinal

cord and PNS(12 cranial,31pairs
and autonomic nervous system)
• Fast-acting control system
• Responds to internal and
external change
• Activates muscles and glands

Figure 1.2d
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 Organ System Overview

• Endocrine
• Secretes regulatory
hormones
• Growth
• Reproduction
• Metabolism

Figure 1.2e
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Organ System Overview

• Cardiovascular
• Transports materials in
body via blood pumped
by heart
• Oxygen
• Carbon dioxide
• Nutrients
• Wastes
Figure 1.2f
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 Organ System Overview

• Lymphatic
• Comprises of vessels that
withdraws excess tissue fluid
(lymph) from the body's
interstitial (intercellular) fluid
compartment, filters it through
lymph nodes, and returns it to the
bloodstream
• Disposes of debris
Figure 1.2g
• Involved in immunity
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Organ System Overview

• Respiratory
• Keeps blood supplied
with oxygen
• Removes carbon
dioxide

Figure 1.2h
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Organ System Overview

• Digestive
• Breaks down food
• Allows for nutrient
absorption into blood
• Eliminates indigestible
material

Figure 1.2i
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Organ System Overview

• Urinary
• Eliminates nitrogenous wastes
• Maintains acid – base balance
• Regulation of materials
• Water
• Electrolytes

Figure 1.2j
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Organ System Overview

• Reproductive
• Production
of offspring

Figure 1.2k

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Necessary Life Functions
• Maintain Boundaries
• Movement
• Locomotion
• Movement of substances
• Responsiveness
• Ability to sense changes and react
• Digestion
• Break-down and delivery of nutrients
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Necessary Life Functions

• Metabolism – chemical reactions within the

body
• Production of energy
• Making body structures
• Excretion
• Elimination of waste from metabolic reactions

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Necessary Life Functions

• Reproduction
• Production of future generation
• Growth
• Increasing of cell size and number

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Survival Needs

• Nutrients
• Chemicals for energy and cell building
• Includes carbohydrates, proteins, lipids,
vitamins, and minerals
• Oxygen
• Required for chemical reactions

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Survival Needs

• Water
• 60–80% of body weight
• Provides for metabolic reaction
• Stable body temperature
• Atmospheric pressure must be appropriate

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Homeostasis

• Maintenance of a stable internal

environment = a dynamic state of
equilibrium
• Homeostasis must be maintained for normal
body functioning and to sustain life
• Homeostatic imbalance – a disturbance in
homeostasis resulting in disease

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Maintaining Homeostasis

• The body communicates through neural and

hormonal control systems
• Receptor
• Responds to changes in the environment
(stimuli)
• Sends information to control center
Maintaining Homeostasis

• Control center
• Determines set point
• Analyzes information
• Determines appropriate response
• Effector
• Provides a means for response to the stimulus

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 .

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Feedback Mechanisms

• Negative feedback
• Includes most homeostatic control mechanisms
• Shuts off the original stimulus, or reduces its
intensity
• Works like a household thermostat

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 Feedback Mechanisms
• Positive Feedback
• Increases the original stimulus to push the variable farther
• In the body this occurs only in blood clotting and child
birth

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 THE LANGUAGE OF ANATOMY

• Special terminology is used to prevent

misunderstanding
• Exact terms are used for:
• Position
• Direction
• Regions
• Structures

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What is anatomical position?

• This is the position of standard reference when describing a

human body.
• It’s the standard used by clinicians when performing clinical
examination on patients.
The person stands upright with the:
• Head, gaze (eyes), and toes directed anteriorly (forward).
• Arms adjacent to the sides with the palms facing anteriorly.
• Lower limbs close together with the feet parallel and the
toes directed anteriorly.

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Anatomical Planes
• Anatomical descriptions - four imaginary planes
• The median plane, is a longitudinal plane
• Divides the body into right and left equal halves.
• Sagittal planes are vertical planes parallel to the median
plane dividing the body into right and left but unequal parts
• Frontal (coronal) planes are vertical planes at right angles
to the median plane, dividing the body into anterior (front)
and posterior (back) parts
• Transverse planes(axial planes) are transverse planes
through the body at right angles to the median and frontal
planes, dividing the body into superior (upper) and inferior
(lower) parts.
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Body Planes

Figure 1.6
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Orientation and Directional Terms

Table 1.1

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Orientation and Directional Terms

Table 1.1 (cont)

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• Ipsilateral represent:- Represents the same side of the
body e.g. the left hand and foot are ipsilateral

• Contralateral: Refers to the opposite side of the body e.g.

the left hand and right foot are contralateral

- In describing the HAND and FOOT the following terms

are used

For the hand, the palmar and dorsal surfaces are used in
place of anterior and posterior.

For the foot, the plantar and dorsal surfaces are used
instead of lower and upper surfaces respectively.
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Body Landmarks

• Anterior

Figure 1.5a
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Body Landmarks

• Posterior

Figure 1.5b
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Body Cavities

Figure 1.7

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What is a joint?:-A site where two or more bones come together and articulate.
TERMS RELATED TO MOVEMENT

1. Flexion: Movement in a sagittal plane e.g. flexion of the elbow joint

2. Extension: Straightening the joint and usually takes place in opposite direction
to flexion.

3. Lateral Flexion: Movement of the trunk in the coronal plane.

4. Abduction: Movement away from the midline

5. Adduction: Movement towards the midline

5. Rotation: It is a movement of a part of the body around its long axis.

6. Circumduction: Combined movements of Flexion, extension, abduction and

adduction.

7. Protraction: Specifically Jaw -move forward while retraction is to move

backward.

8.Inversion: Movement of the foot so that the sole faces in the medial direction.

9.Eversion:- Is the opposite movement of the foot so that the sole faces in a lateral
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direction.
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MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
D
The skeletal, articular (joints) and the muscular systems collectively
constitute a super system, the locomotor apparatus because they
must work together to produce locomotion of the body. into three
areas of study including:
1. OSTEOLOGY:- study of bones
2. MYOLOGY:- study of muscles
3. ATHROLOGY:- study of joints
A) Osteology
The subdivisions of body skeleton:
The skeleton is divided into two parts:-
a) Axial skeleton:- Skull, verterbral column and thoracic cage.
b) Appendicular skeleton:- Bones of the limbs.
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Cartilage and Bones
• The skeleton is composed of cartilages (avascular and
flexible) and bones.(Compact)
• All bones have a superficial thin layer of compact bone
around a central mass of spongy medullary bone, except
where the latter is replaced by a medullary (marrow) cavity.
• The periosteum and perichondrium nourish the external
aspects of the skeletal tissue of a bone and cartilage
respectively.

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BONE CLASSIFICATION
• Bones are classified according to their shape(morphology)
or method of development
• Long bones are tubular (e.g., the humerus in the arm).
• Short bones are cuboidal and are found only in the ankle
(tarsus) and wrist (carpus).
• Flat bones usually serve protective functions (e.g., those
forming the cranium protect the brain).
• Irregular bones (e.g., in the face) have various shapes other
than long, short, or flat.
• Sesamoid bones (e.g., the patella or knee cap) develop in
tendons and occur where tendons cross the ends of long
bones in the limbs; they protect
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the tendons from excessive
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wear
 Classification of bone according to their
developmental origin
(a) Intramembranous (Dermal) bone: Develops from direct
transformation of condensed mesenchyme, e.g., bones of
skull.
(b) Intracartilaginous (Endochondral) bone: Replaces a
preformed cartilage model, e.g., bones of limb and thoracic
cage.
(c) Membranocartilaginous bone: Develops partly in
membrane and partly in cartilage, e.g., clavicle, mandible
scapula.

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 LONG BONES

Long bones: Characterized by elongated tubular shaft.

Having a central medullary cavity and expanded articular
ends (epiphyses), e.g., humerus, radius, femur etc.

There are three main parts of long bones including:

(a)Epiphysis: Ends of a long bone which ossifies from
secondary centres.
(b) Diaphysis:- shaft of a long bone which ossifies from a
primary centre.
(c) Metaphysis:- The epiphysial ends of diaphysis. It is the
zone of active growth of bone.

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 The arterial supply of a long bone

The arterial supply of a long bone is derived from four sources:

(a) Nutrient artery: It enters the shaft through nutrient foramen and
runs obliquely in cortex and divides into ascending and descending
branches in medullary cavity. Each branch in turn divides and
redivides into parallel vessels, which run in metaphysis.
>>These terminate by anastomosing with epiphysial, metaphysical
and periosteal arteries.
b) Juxta-epiphysial (metaphyseal) arteries of Lever: These are
derived from anastomosis around the joint.
They pierce the metaphysic along line of attachment of joint
capsule.
c) Epiphysial arteries: Derived from periarticular vascular arcades
found on non articular bony surface.
d) Periosteal arteries: these ramily beneath periosteum and supply
outer 1/3 of cortex.
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MYOLOGY-(study of muscles)
Muscles can be classified in two two broad categories:-
1. Those that function as single cells/unit:
a) myo-epitheliocytes- lines the glands to expel
secretions
b) Myo-fibroblasts- are cells that have a contractile role
in addition to being able to secrete collagen. They
are dominant in areas where tissues undergo repair
c) Pericytes- are smooth muscle cells line the blood
vessels
2. Those that function in groups of muscle fibres:
a) skeletal muscles- voluntary muscles-striated
b) smooth muscles- involuntary /visceral muscles
c) cardiac muscles- muscles of the heartuscles of the heart-
striated
The skeletal muscles attachments
1. origin and insertion:- The origin of a muscle is the point
where the muscle has least movement while insertion is
the point where a muscle moves most.
2. Belly, tendon, aponeurosis and a raphe:
• Belly: The fleshy part of a muscle
• Tendon: These are cords of fibrous tissue at the ends of
a muscle that attach it to bones, cartilages or ligaments.
• Aponeurosis: these are thin but strong sheets of fibrous
tissue that attaches muscles to bones.
• A Raphe: It is an interdigitation of two tendinous ends
of fibres of flat muscles.

Kweri joseph
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• Functional classification of skeletal muscles
(i)Prime movers: The chief muscle or a member of the chief
muscles responsible for a particular kind of movement e.g.
guadriceps femoris in extension of knee joint.
ii) Antagonists: Any muscle that opposes the action of the prime
mover – e.g. Biceps femoris is an antagonist to guadriceps
femoris.
iii) Fixators: These are the muscles that contract isometrically
i.e. the contraction of these muscles increases the tone but does
not in itself produce movement. They stabilize the origin of the
prime movers so that it can act efficiently.
iv) Synergists: These are the muscles that contract to facilitate
the action of prime movers. Usually when the prime mover is
acting on several joints, the synergigists contract to fix the joints
with unwanted movement.
•
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