Different Anatomical Site Definition

The human body is divided into regions. The most important in the human body are the head, neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, as well as the upper and lower limbs. The upper limb is divided into shoulder, arm, elbow, forearm, wrist and hand. The lower limb consists of hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, legs, ankles and feet. All anatomical regions are defined by precise landmarks that make them generally accepted terms that every health professional immediately recognizes and understands. In general, these landmarks are provided by obvious structures that are easily tangible or visible. This is called surface anatomy. Anatomical lines are used to describe the anatomical position. For example, the middle collarbone line is used as part of the cardiac examination in medicine to feel the beating of the tip of the heart. The standard anatomical position is considered the reference position for a particular organism. For people, the default position is at rest, standing while pointing forward.

Any other anatomical position is described relative to this default position. The head and neck are also made up of regions. They are not formed by precise planes, but named after the anatomical structures they contain. Therefore, the terms are easy to understand: frontal, orbital, infraorbital, nasal, oral, mental, sternocleidomastoid, lateral cervical, postoconvical, oral, parotideo masseteric, infratemporal, zygomatic, temporal, occipital and parietal. In addition, there are submandibular, submanmental, carotid and muscular, supraclavicular, chinstrap and retromandibular triangles. Figure 1. Regions of the human body. The human body is depicted in an anatomical position in one (a) front view and one (b) front view. Areas of the body are labeled bold.

When the anatomical position is placed face down, it is located in the prone position. Anatomical positions are important because they give us a frame of reference to describe the body. Similar to a compass, they give us a universal way to describe the position of an organism. The concept of anatomical position is especially important in medicine, as errors can occur when healthcare professionals do not have a common point of reference for discussing patients` bodies. When describing the orientation, location, movement and direction, the reference is the anatomical position. In this generally accepted reference, the person is considered to be standing, with arms hanging to the side, palms facing forward, and thumbs pointing away from the body. The feet are slightly parallel and the toes are aligned forward. Before entering the following learning units, which allow a more detailed discussion of topics on different systems of the human body, it is necessary to learn some useful terms to describe the structure of the body.

Knowing these terms will make it much easier for us to understand the content of the following learning units. Three groups of terms are presented here: Anatomical position is the description of a region or part of the body in a particular posture. In the anatomical position, the body is straight, directly facing the viewer, feet flat and directed forward. The upper limbs are located on the sides of the body with the palms facing forward. Anatomists and health care providers use terminology that can be confusing to the uninitiated. However, the purpose of this language is not to confuse, but to increase accuracy and reduce medical errors. For example, is a scar „above the wrist“ on the forearm two or three inches from the hand? Or is it at the base of the hand? Is it on the palm of your hand or on your back? By using precise anatomical terminology, we eliminate ambiguities. Anatomical terms are derived from ancient Greek and Latin words. Since these languages are no longer used in everyday conversations, the meaning of their words does not change. The standard anatomical position provides a clear and consistent description of human anatomy and physiology. When assessing the anatomy of an individual, many anatomical terms are used to describe the relative positioning of the different appendages in relation to the normalized position.

These terms include posterior or dorsal, which means in the direction of the back of the body, or proximal and distal, which describe how close or distant something is. The standard anatomical position creates clear reference points that help avoid confusion when using anatomical terms. Unlike vertebrates, cnidarians have no other distinctive axes. „Lateral“, „dorsal“ and „ventral“ have no meaning in such organisms, and all can be replaced by the generic term peripheral (from the ancient Greek περιφέρεια „circumference“). Medial can be used, but in the case of rays, the central point indicates and not a central axis as in vertebrates. Thus, there are several possible radial axes and mid-peripheral (semi-) axes. However, some biracially symmetrical comb jellies have different „tentacles“ and „pharyngeal“ axes[65] and are therefore anatomically equivalent to animals with bilateral symmetry. Because animals can change their orientation in relation to their environment, and because appendages such as limbs and tentacles can change position relative to the main body, terms describing position should refer to an animal when it is in its standard anatomical position. [1] This means descriptions as if the organism were in its standard anatomical position, even if the organism in question has appendages in a different position. This avoids confusion in terminology when referring to the same organism in different postures. [1] In humans, it is the body in a standing position with the arms on the side and the palms forward, with the thumbs outwards and on the sides.

[2] [1] The axes of the body are drawn lines around which an organism is roughly symmetrical. [7] To this end, different ends of an organism are chosen and the axis is named after these directions. A symmetrical organism on both sides has three main axes that intersect at right angles. [3] A round or non-symmetrical organism can have different axes. [3] Examples of axes: Superior (from the Latin super „above“) describes what is above something[20] and lower (from the Latin inferus „below“) describes what is below. [21] For example, in the anatomical position, the highest part of the human body is the head and the lowest is the feet. As a second example, the neck in men is superior to the breast, but inferior to the head. Many anatomical structures are housed in open and fluid-filled spaces or cavities located throughout the body. The most important are located axially, that is, in the skull, spine, chest and abdomen.