Human Body Axes and Planes

The standard anatomical position, or standard anatomical model, is the scientifically agreed upon reference position for anatomical location terms. Standard anatomical positions are used to standardise the position of appendages of animals with respect to the main body of the organism Wikipedia contributors. (2022, January 2).

Excerpts from Wikipedia contributors (2022, January 30):

The standard anatomical model helps avoid confusion in terminology when referring to the same organism in different postures. ...

In human anatomy, the three main anatomical planes are defined in reference to the anatomical model being in the upright, or standing, orientation.

• A transverse plane (also known as axial or horizontal plane) is parallel to the ground; it separates the superior from the inferior, or the head from the feet.
• A coronal plane (also known as frontal plane) is perpendicular to the ground; it separates the anterior from the posterior, the front from the back, the ventral from the dorsal.
• A sagittal plane (also known as anteroposterior plane) is perpendicular to the ground, separating left from right.

     The median (or midsagittal) plane is the sagittal plane that is exactly in the middle of the body; it passes through midline structures such as the navel and the spine.

     All other sagittal planes (also known as parasagittal planes) are parallel to it.

Figure 1: Anatomical planes. Original xyz labels of axes have been intentionnally hidden to avoid confusion with the XYZ coordinate systems used in PTVR documentation. (image from David Richfield and Mikael Häggström, M.D. and cmglee, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)	Figure 2: Anatomical axes. (image from Edoarado and Mikael Häggström, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

😱 Warning: The colors used in these figures have NO relationship with the colours of the axes used throughout the PTVR Documentation.

Links

Wikipedia contributors. (2022, January 2). Standard anatomical position. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:53, February 21, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Standard_anatomical_position&oldid=1063409930

Wikipedia contributors. (2022, January 30). Anatomical plane. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:25, February 21, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anatomical_plane&oldid=1068939098

Howard, I. P., & Rogers, B. J. (2008). Chapter 1. Introduction. In Seeing in Depth. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367607.003.0001