Seven Approaches to Studying the Human Body

When studying the human body, there are seven organizational approaches. Each approach studies the body in a different yet unique way and is used in the health care field. The approaches consist of; body planes and directions, body cavities, quadrants and regions, anatomy and physiology, microscopic and macroscopic, body systems and medical specialties.

There are three body planes which use different directions: coronal, sagittal, and transverse planes. Coronal plane slices the body from head to toe giving a front and back view. There are two directions that are related with it; anterior posterior, moving from the outside of the body through the anterior part then the posterior section, and posterior anterior, which is its reverse. Sagittal plane cuts the body right down the middle giving a right and left view. Moving medially is to go inwards or towards the middle of the body from the outside and to go laterally is as if moving out or from the midline towards the outside of the body. Lastly, transverse plane divides the body giving a top and bottom sections. The top half is superior and the lower half is inferior. Moving cephalad is moving superiorly, and cuadad is moving inferiorly. Radiologists would use this approach when looking at x-rays or MRI scans to distinguish how the image was taken.

There are five sections of hallow space, known as cavities, in the human body, all of which carry-over each other. Starting from the head is the cranial cavity that protects the brain, then the spinal cavity that travels down the middle of the back, then in the chest is the thoracic cavity where the lungs, heart and esophagus are, next is the abdominal cavity which is around the abdominal muscles and last is the pelvic cavity where the hip bones lay. An ultrasound technician would use this approach when projecting images from inside the body cavity onto the screen.

The approach to use quadrants and regions is to divide up the abdominopelvic area into four