Body Planes, Direction, and Cavities Health Science

Facing East or West It would be difficult to apply these terms to the human body and other directional terms have been applied.

Body Planes Imaginary lines drawn through the body @ various parts to separate the body into sections.

Three Main Body Planes 1. Transverse plane- horizontal and divides the body into top half and bottom half. 2. Midsagittal-median-divides body into right and left sides.

Third Body Plane 3. Frontal –divides the body into front and back sections

Body Cavities Spaces within the body that contains vital organs.

Two Main Body Cavities 1. Dorsal cavity is one long, continuous cavity located on the back of the body (contains cranial and spinal cavity) Also known as the posterior or back portion.

Second Type of Body Cavity 2. Ventral cavities are larger than the dorsal cavities. This is known as the anterior or front cavity. Thoracic, abdominal and pelvic cavities make up the ventral cavity

Cavities 1. Thoracic- chest (heart, lungs, large blood vessels) 2. Abdominal-stomach, small intestine, front part of large intestine, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen 3. Pelvic- bladder, reproductive organs, last part of the large intestine 4. Orbital-eyes 5. Nasal-nose 6. Buccal-mouth

Abdominal Regions Abdominal is a LARGE cavity and is divided into regions or sections. Umbilicus: belly button One method: quadrants- RUQ, LUQ, LLQ, RLQ

TERMS 1. epigastric Above the stomach 2. umbilical Near the umbilicus or belly button 3. hypogastric Below the stomach

Terms 4. lumbar Near the spinal cord 5. inguinal Near the groin

Directional terms Proximal: body parts close to the point of reference Distal: body parts distant from the point of reference Superior: body parts above other parts Inferior: body parts below other parts Cranial: parts near the head Caudal: body parts near the sacral region (tail)