Anatomical plane

An anatomical plane is a hypothetical plane used to transect the body, in order to describe the location of structures or the direction of movements. In human and non-human anatomy, three principal planes are used:

Terminology[edit]

There could be any number of sagittal planes, but only one cardinal sagittal plane exists. The term cardinal refers to the one plane that divides the body into equal segments, with exactly one half of the body on either side of the cardinal plane. The term cardinal plane appears in some texts as the principal plane. The terms are interchangeable.^[1]

A transverse plane (also known as axial or horizontal plane) is parallel to the ground; it separates the from the inferior, or the head from the feet. The transverse planes identified in Terminologia Anatomica are the transpyloric plane, the subcostal plane, the transumbilical (or umbilical) plane, the supracristal plane, the intertubercular plane, and the interspinous plane.

superior

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, and the ventral from the dorsal.

A sagittal plane (also known as anteroposterior plane) is perpendicular to the ground, separating left from right. The is the sagittal plane 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.

median (or midsagittal) plane

In human anatomy, the anatomical planes are defined in reference to a body in the upright or standing orientation.

The axes and sagittal plane are the same for bipeds and quadrupeds, but the orientations of the coronal and transverse planes switch. The axes on particular pieces of equipment may or may not correspond to the axes of the body, especially since the body and the equipment may be in different relative orientations.

The midaxillary line, a line running vertically down the surface of the body passing through the apex of the (armpit). Parallel are the anterior axillary line, which passes through the anterior axillary skinfold, and the posterior axillary line, which passes through the posterior axillary skinfold.

axilla

The , a line running vertically down the surface of the body passing through the midpoint of the clavicle.

mid-clavicular line

History[edit]

Some of these terms come from Latin. Sagittal means "like an arrow", a reference to the position of the spine that naturally divides the body into right and left equal halves, the exact meaning of the term "midsagittal", or to the shape of the sagittal suture, which defines the sagittal plane and is shaped like an arrow.