Anatomy as a science, subject of teaching and methods

Human anatomy is a science that studies the shape and structure of the human body in connection with its functions, development and influence of conditions of existence. The science received its name from the method of investigation - dissection, or dissection (Greek anathema - dissecting).

There are systematic, topographical, plastic, comparative and functional anatomy. Systematic anatomy studies the body according to systems (muscle, cardiovascular, etc.); topographic - on the basis of already known facts of systematic anatomy, considers spatial relationships of structures in separate areas of the body, therefore it is also called surgical anatomy. Plastic anatomy explains the external forms and proportions of the body. Age anatomy examines changes in the structure of the body and its parts in the process of individual development of the body. Comparative anatomy studies structural transformations of similar organs in different animals. Functional anatomy considers the structure of individual parts of the body in connection with the functions performed by them.

At present, a new direction in anatomy has appeared-experimental morphology, which studies the structural basis of the human organism's adaptation to the changing conditions of the external environment.

Modern methods of studying the morphological features of a person can be divided into two groups. The methods of the first group are used in studying the structure of the human body on cadaveric material, the second - on a living person.

The first group includes mainly methods of classical anatomy, improved according to the level of development of modern science and technology:

• •    method of dissection, or preparation, which allows using simple anatomical instruments to study the structure and mutual position of organs;

• •    The method of soaking corpses by placing them in water or in special fluids for a long time. This method allows you to select the skeleton, as well as individual bones and study their structure;

• •    The method of sawing frozen corpses allows you to study the relationship of organs in a single area of the human body;

• •    method of filling, or injection (filling) of organs with cavities, colored masses and subsequent clarification of parenchyma of the body with glycerin, methyl alcohol, Vaseline oil and preparation of anatomical structures. Widely used in the study of the circulatory and lymphatic systems, lungs;

• •    The method of corrosion, or corrosive, is used in the study of the bloodstream, internal organs. It consists in filling the cavity organs with hardening masses (plastics, liquid metal) with subsequent destruction of the soft tissues of the walls of the organ by placing the latter in a strong solution of acid or alkali, while retaining only molds from the poured formations;

• •    macro microscopic method consists in the thin preparation of objects under a falling drop of water and the study of their structural features using a binocular microscope. It is used in the study of objects that are on the verge between macro and microscopic vision.

The second group of methods is as follows:

• •    X-ray method and its modifications (fluoroscopy, radiography) allows to study the structure and topographic features of organs on a living person both in certain periods of their functional activity and in connection with age dynamics;

Somatoscopic method - visual examination of the body of a person or its individual parts. The method allows you to determine the shape of the chest, the degree of development of individual muscle groups, subcutaneous fat, spine curvature, the constitution of the body;

• •    somatometric, or anthropometric, method - the study of the structure of the body by measuring its individual parts and calculating their relationships that determine the proportions of the body. The method allows you to study the ratio of muscle, bone and fat tissue, the degree of mobility of the joints, determine the physique;

• •    the method of endoscopy of internal organs allows to examine on the living person the internal surfaces of the digestive and respiratory tracts, urogenital apparatus, heart and blood vessels and to study the processes occurring in them.

Modern anatomy is enriched with new research methods: radioisotope, electron microscopy, ultrasound echolocation, paramagnetic resonance.