Anatomical planes are hypothetical flat surfaces that go through the body dividing it into sections. They are used to describe the location of structures in the body and help with anatomical directions. First responders and other medical personnel should be familiar with the following anatomical planes of the body.
Full Answer
What are the anatomical planes?
Anatomical planes can be used to describe any body part or an entire body. (View a detailed body plane image.) Lateral Plane or Sagittal Plane:Imagine a vertical plane that runs through your body from front to back or back to front. This plane divides the body into right and left regions.
What is the importance of anatomical directional terms and body planes?
Understanding anatomical directional terms and body planes will make it easier to study anatomy. It will help you to be able to visualize positional and spatial locations of structures and navigate directionally from one area to another.
What are the anatomical terms used in medicine?
Medical professionals often refer to sections of the body in terms of anatomical planes (flat surfaces). These planes are imaginary lines – vertical or horizontal – drawn through an upright body. The terms are used to describe a specific body part. Listed below are general anatomical terms and their meanings.
Why do Anatomists use anatomical terms?
By establishing a common vocabulary, they help avoid miscommunication when identifying body structures. The anatomical planes of the body and the terms accompanying them are as follows: These are the anatomical planes and directional terms used by anatomists.
What is the use of anatomical planes in medicine?
The planes can then be used to identify and locate the positions of the patient's internal organs. Individual organs can also be divided by planes to help identify smaller structures within that organ. Body planes are used to describe anatomical motion in the X-Y-Z coordinate system that the body moves through.
What medical terms refer to an anatomical plane?
Anatomical PlanesCoronal Plane or Frontal Plane.Sagittal Plane or Lateral Plane.Axial Plane or Transverse Plane.
What are the 3 main anatomical planes?
The three planes of motion are the sagittal, coronal (or frontal) and transverse planes.Sagittal Plane: Cuts the body into left and right halves. Forward and backward movements.Coronal (or Frontal Plane): Cuts the body into front and back halves. ... Transverse Plane: Cuts the body into top and bottom halves.
Why is using standard anatomical terminology important in healthcare?
The purpose of medical terminology is to create a standardised language for medical professionals. This language helps medical staff communicate more efficiently and makes documentation easier.
What are the different anatomical planes?
Anatomical planes in a human:median or sagittal plane.a parasagittal plane.frontal or coronal plane.transverse or axial plane.
What is the purpose of defining the planes of the body?
An anatomical plane refers to a hypothetical plane used in describing the location of bodily structures or movement directions. The three planes that are commonly used in human and animal anatomy are sagittal plane, coronal plane, and transverse plane.
What is plane in anatomy and physiology?
327,298 views • May 7, 2019 • In anatomy and physiology, the body planes and sectio. The four major body planes are the sagittal plane, frontal (also called coronal) plane, the transverse (also called horizontal or axial) plane, and the oblique plane.
Why is it important to learn the anatomical terms in describing positions?
Why is anatomical position important? Standard anatomical position provides a clear and consistent way of describing human anatomy and physiology. When assessing an individual's anatomy, many anatomical terms are used to describe the relative positioning of various appendages in relation to the standardized position.
What is the best way to describe anatomical planes?
This is the best way to describe anatomical planes. Anatomical planes can be used to describe any body part or an entire body. (View a detailed body plane image.) Lateral Plane or Sagittal Plane: Imagine a vertical plane that runs through your body from front to back or back to front.
What is the purpose of body planes?
Body planes are used to describe specific sections or regions of the body. Below are examples of some commonly used anatomical directional terms and planes of the body.
What is anatomical directional?
Anatomical directional terms are like the directions on a compass rose of a map. Like the directions, North, South, East and West, they can be used to describe the locations of structures in relation to other structures or locations in the body. This is particularly useful when studying anatomy as it provides a common method ...
Which plane divides the body into unequal right and left regions?
Parasagittal Plane: Sagittal plane that divides the body into unequal right and left regions. Frontal Plane or Coronal Plane: Imagine a vertical plane that runs through the center of your body from side to side. This plane divides the body into front (anterior) and back (posterior) regions.
Which plane divides the body into front and back?
This plane divides the body into front (anterior) and back (posterior) regions. Transverse Plane: Imagine a horizontal plane that runs through the midsection of your body. This plane divides the body into upper (superior) and lower (inferior) regions.
What are some examples of anatomical structures?
Some examples include the anterior and posterior pituitary, superior and inferior venae cavae, the median cerebral artery, and the axial skeleton.
What are anatomical planes?
Anatomical planes are hypothetical flat surfaces that go through the body dividing it into sections. They are used to describe the location of structures in the body and help with anatomical directions. First responders and other medical personnel should be familiar with the following anatomical planes of the body. Coronal plane.
Which plane is medial?
In directional terms, body structures toward the midsagittal plane tend to be medial while structures farther away tend to be distal. (See parasagittal plane pic.) Axial/ Transverse Plane Definition: The transverse plane is also called the axial plane. They are horizontal anatomical planes that divide the body into upper and lower sections.
What is the difference between a transverse and parasagittal plane?
When describing the right or left sides, you use the patient’s right, not your right. Parasagittal Plane: The parasagittal plane is a vertical anatomical plane that divides the body into right and left sides which are not equal in size.
Why are anterior and posterior grouped together?
For example, anterior and posterior are grouped together because the coronal anatomical planes divide the body into anterior and posterior parts.
What do EMS students learn in medical terminology?
One of the first things EMS learn in medical terminology classes are anatomical directions and the anatomical planes of the body. This page can teach you the basics or be a refresher for current medical personnel.
Which plane divides the body into right and left sides?
Midsagittal Plane: The midsagittal is a vertical plane running from front to back that divides the body into right and left sides. The midsagittal plane travels down the midline so the left and right side will both be equal in size.
Why do horror movies divide bodies?
Fans of horror films will understand how the anatomic planes divide the body because scary movies love to show the scary effect. This includes films like The Cell, Thirteen Ghosts, Ghost Ship, Resident Evil and even The Dome TV show.
What are the anatomical planes and directional terms used by anatomists?
Axial and intermediate. These are the anatomical planes and directional terms used by anatomists. However, without placing them into context and giving examples, they mean relatively little. For this reason, a deeper dive into these terms is required.
What is the anatomical plane?
Anatomical Body Planes. To begin with, the division of the body into anatomical planes assumes that an individual is in an upright position. If the upper body is divided into both horizontal and vertical planes, this creates the anatomical body planes. The planes of the body are the sagittal plane (or the lateral plane), ...
What are the planes of the body?
The planes of the body are the sagittal plane (or the lateral plane), the coronal plane (or the frontal plane), and the transverse plane. The sagittal plane/the lateral plane divides the body into right and left sides, right and left regions, by running through the body from back to front. The midsagittal plane creates a roughly mirror, symmetrical ...
What are some examples of anatomical terms used to label body structures?
Examples of these anatomical terms used to label body structures include the axial skeleton, the median cerebral artery, the posterior and anterior pituitary, and the inferior and superior vena cava.
Why are anatomical planes important?
The anatomical planes of the body are directional terms used by anatomists to help facilitate the discussion of various parts and directions of the body. By establishing a common vocabulary, they help avoid miscommunication when identifying body structures. The anatomical planes of the body and the terms accompanying them are as follows:
Which plane divides the body into back and front portions?
The coronal plane or the frontal plane, in contrast to the sagittal plane, divides the body into back and front portions, or anterior and posterior portions respectively. The coronal plane can be thought of as a window that divides the body from side to side.
What is the difference between a distal and a proximal point?
For instance, the proximal end of a leg is the end that joins it to the rest of the body, while the distal end is the far end of the extremity away from the center of the body.
Why are anatomical body planes important?
They are especially important to know if you plan to enter a healthcare field that involves analyzing images from MRI machines ...
What are the four types of body planes?
There are four major types of body planes, and an easy way to remember them is to remember the acronym “SOFT,” which stands for. S agittal. O blique. F rontal. T ransverse. Two of these planes are vertical (sagittal and frontal), running from top to bottom. One plane is horizontal (transverse), ...
What is the prefix for sagittal plane?
You can take sagittal planes a step further and add a prefix to help you identify the type of sagittal plane. A “Midsagittal” or “median” plane is a sagittal plane that perfectly divides the body down the midline. The prefix “mid” can remind you that it is right down the middle.
What is an oblique plane?
An oblique plane is a plane that can literally be any type of angle other than a horizontal or vertical angle. In fact, the word “oblique” means that something is not parallel or a right angle. An easy way to remember this is to remember “obliques are odd angles.”. You can also think about your oblique muscles.
What is the suture on the skull called?
This is easy to remember because on your skull you have what’s called a sagittal suture, which divides it into left and right sides. And that’s exactly what this plane does: it divides the body into right and left sides when viewed from the anatomical position.
What is the frontal plane?
The frontal plane (also called coronal plane) is a plane that runs vertically from top to bottom (and left to right), and it divides the body into a front (anterior) portion and a back (posterior) portion. Again, let the name help you.
Which plane is the only one that runs horizontally?
Transverse Planes (Horizontal or Axial Planes) A transverse plane (also called a horizontal plane) is easy to remember because it is the only plane that runs horizontally, dividing the body or structure into a top (superior) and bottom (inferior) half.
What is a plane in medical terms?
A plane is a theoretical line that divides the body. These planes are often used to describe location of structures or to describe directionality of movement. Oftentimes, these terms are used within the context of advanced medical imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
What is human anatomy?
Human anatomy is the study of the structure of the human body. Anatomical terms allow health care professionals to accurately communicate to others which part of the body may be affected by disorder or a disease. Terms are defined in reference to a theoretical person who is standing in what is called anatomical position ...
What is the mediastinum?
The mediastinum contains the heart, large vessels of the heart, trachea (windpipe), upper esophagus, thymus gland, and lymph nodes. Abdominopelvic cavity is further divided into the abdominal and pelvic cavities. The abdominal cavity is between the diaphragm and the pelvis.
What is the oblique plane?
Oblique plane (not shown in the figure) is a slanted plane (at an angle) that lies between the horizontal and vertical planes. You can see that the three basic planes (sagittal, coronal, transverse) intersect one another at right angles.
What does superior mean in anatomy?
Superior and Inferior – Superior means above, inferior means below. E.g. The elbow is superior (above) to the hand. The foot is inferior (below) to the knee. Anterior and Posterior – Anterior means toward the front (chest side) of the body, posterior means toward the back.
Which plane divides the body into equal left and right sides?
Sagittal (also known as longitudinal) plane — this vertical (top to bottom) plane divides the body into left and right sides. The theoretical plane that divides the body down the middle into equal left and right sides is known as the median sagittal plane.
Which plane divides the body into front and back halves?
Coronal (also known as frontal) plane — a vertical plane that divides the body into front and back halves. Transverse (also known as axial or horizontal ) plane — this horizontal plane is parallel to the ground and divides the body into upper and lower halves.
What are the planes of the body?
Planes of the Body. Anatomical planes are imaginary lines that are used to divide the human body, these are used to describe the location of structures or the direction of movements. They are less commonly used in EMS practice than the anatomical terms but still regularly appear on registry exams. Frontal or Coronal Plane is a vertical plane ...
Which plane divides the body into upper and lower sections?
Transverse or Axial Plane is a horizontal plane that divides the body into upper (superior) and lower (inferior) sections, it is perpendicular to the frontal and sagittal planes.
What is the difference between a supine and a prone patient?
Supine patients are laying on their posterior plane whereas Prone patients are laying on their anterior plane.
What is the midline of the armpit?
Midline refers to the imaginary line that divides the body into symmetrical left and right halves. " Medial" refers to a location that is closer to the midline and " lateral" refers to a location that is further from the midline. "The nipple is medial to the armpit".
Which plane divides the body into the front and rear?
Frontal or Coronal Plane is a vertical plane that divides the body into the front (ventral) and rear (dorsal) halves. Saggital or Lateral Plane is a vertical plane that divides the body into left and right halves.
What is the right side of a patient?
A standard system for describing the location and position of a given body part was created to ensure accurate and specific communication across all areas of healthcare. These terms are "patient-oriented" meaning the term "right side" refers to the patient's right side and vise versa. This terminology is used for both physical exam findings and any images or interventions that are of the patient or to be done of them.
What is the difference between distal and proximal?
Distal and Proximal are terms that describe the location of a structure in relation to another structure on a limb. With a distal structure being one that is further away from the attachment point of the limb.
Anatomical Terminology
Directional Terms of The Body
- Here are the most common directional terms used. The anatomical directions below are under separate headings to show how they relate to each other. For example, anterior and posterior are grouped together because the coronal anatomical planes divide the body into anterior and posterior parts. See the pics below for a better understanding of these terms.
Anatomical Planes of The Body
- Fans of horror films will understand how the anatomic planes divide the body because scary movies love to show the scary effect. This includes films like The Cell, Thirteen Ghosts, Ghost Ship, Resident Evil and even The Dome TV show. Anatomical planes are hypothetical flat surfaces that go through the body dividing it into sections. They are used to describe the location of struc…
What Is The Anatomical Position
- When discussing anatomical planes of the body and anatomical directions, we refer to the anatomical position to avoid confusion and prevent mistakes. It’s assumed the patient is in the anatomical position unless a different position is specified. It looks like this: 1. Upright standing 2. Facing forward 3. Arms at sides 4. Feet facing forward 5. Pa...
Anatomical Body Planes
Anatomical Terms
- Many structures in the body have names that include terms used to specify their position in the body relative to the anatomical planes or relative it to other structures in the body. Examples of these anatomical terms used to label body structures include the axialskeleton, the median cerebral artery, the posterior and anterior pituitary, and the inferior and superior vena cava. Prefi…
Regional Terms
- Regional termsare used to divide different portions of the body into discrete regions. The appendicular region and the axial region are both different regions of the body. Appendicular is a term which refers to the appendages and limbs, structures which are connected to the main portion of the body. Meanwhile, the axial region refers to the primary portion of the body – the tr…
Body Cavities
- Body cavities are fluid-filled the spaces within complex, multicellular organisms. These body cavities are frequently regions/spaces where the internal organsof the body develop and take residence. The largest cavity within the human body is the ventral body cavity, which actually contains multiple cavities (the thoracic and abdominal-pelvic body cavities). The cavities of the …
Body Quadrants
- The abdominal section of the body can be divided intofour different quadrants. These quadrants are defined by where the umbilical plane and the sagittal plane intersect. The left upper quadrant is where part of the stomach, the pancreas, the liver, the spleen, and the left kidney can be found. The right upper quadrant of the abdomen contains the right kidney, the gallbladder, the liver, the …