Body Structure Notes

Body Structure
Organizational Levels

  • Cellular: Basic unit.

  • Tissue

  • Organ

  • System

  • Organism

Directional Terms

  • Anterior/Posterior: Front/Back

  • Inferior/Superior: Below/Above

  • Proximal/Distal: Closer/Farther from attachment

  • Cephalad/Caudad: Toward head/tail

  • Ventral/Dorsal: Belly side/Back side

  • Lateral/Medial: Side/Toward midline

Body Planes

  • Median (midsagittal): Equal left/right halves.

  • Frontal (coronal): Anterior/posterior portions.

  • Horizontal (transverse): Superior/inferior portions.

Body Cavities

  • Dorsal (posterior):

    • Cranial: Brain.

    • Spinal: Spinal cord.

  • Ventral (anterior):

    • Thoracic: Chest.

    • Abdominal: Digestive organs.

    • Pelvic: Reproductive/excretory organs.

Four Quadrants

  • RUQ, LUQ, RLQ, LLQ: Locate abdominal organs.

Nine Regions

  • Right/Left hypochondriac, Epigastric

  • Right/Left lumbar, Umbilical

  • Right/Left inguinal, Hypogastric: Locate organs, pain origin, pathologies.

Exercises & Definitions

  • Cells are smallest living structures.

  • Organs form system level.

  • Liver in right hypochondriac region.

  • Horizontal plane divides body upper/lower.

  • Directional terms (lateral, dorsal, ventral, supine) defined.

  • Abbreviations (RUQ, LUQ, RLQ, LLQ) defined.

  • Combining forms (chondr/o, cyt/o, hist/o, nucle/o; super/o, infer/o, later/al, anter/o; poster/o, medi/o, ventr/o, caud/o; cephal/o, cervic/o, gastr/o, thorac/o) defined.

  • Body regions (umbilical, epigastric, hypogastric, left inguinal, right lumbar) identified.

  • Medical words built (cytometer, mediad, histolysis, thoracic, cervical, periumbilical, craniometer, chondroma, gastritis).

Vocabulary

  • Adhesion: Scar tissue binding surfaces.

  • Endoscopy: Visual examination via endoscope.

  • Fluoroscopy: Visual image from x-rays.

  • Inflammation: Protective tissue response.

  • Sepsis: Inflammatory response to infection.

  • Ultrasonography: Imaging via sound waves.

Diagnostic Procedures

  • Endoscopy: Visual exam; biopsy, coagulation, aspiration.

  • Radiograph (x-ray): Image via x-rays; may need dye.

  • MRI: Cross-sectional images; soft tissue detail.

  • Ultrasound (US): Sound wave images; external/internal probes.

  • PET: Tracer identifies metabolic activity; tumor/disease indication.

Medical Word Building

  • Terms like endoscopy, ultrasonography, gastroscope, endoscope, tomography defined.

  • Specialist terms (cytologist, hematologist, radiologist) and study terms (hematology, gastrology) defined.

Medical/Surgical Procedures

  • Anastomosis: Surgical joining of ducts/vessels.

  • Cauterize: Burning tissue; destroys/coagulates.

Clinical Examples

  • Wart removal by freezing = cauterizing.

  • Saphenous vein bypass = anastomosis.