Anat omy( Greekanat omē, “dissecti

on” )i
sthebr anchofbi ol
ogyconcernedwiththestudyoft
he
structureofor ganismsandt heirparts.[
1]Anat omyisabr anchofnaturalsci
encedeali
ngwith
thest ruct
uralorganizationofl i
vingthings.Itisanoldscience,havi
ngitsbeginni
ngsin
prehistori
ct i
mes. [
2]Anat omyi sinherentlytiedtoembr yol
ogy,comparati
v eanat
omy ,
evolutionarybiology,andphy logeny,[
3]ast hesear etheprocessesbywhi chanatomyis
gener atedoverimmedi ate(embr yol
ogy )andl ong(evoluti
on)ti
mescales.Humananat omyis
oneoft hebasicessent ialsci
encesofmedi ci ne.
[4]

Thedisci
pli
neofanatomyi sdividedi
ntomacr oscopicandmi cr
oscopicanatomy.Macroscopic
anatomy,orgr
ossanat omy ,i
stheexami nat
ionofanani mal'
sbodypartsusingunaidedeyesi
ght.
Grossanatomyalsoincludesthebranchofsuper f
icial
anatomy.Microscopi
canat omyinv
olves
theuseofopti
calinst
rument sinthestudyofthetissuesofvari
ousstructur
es,knownas
hist
ology
,andalsointhest udyofcel
ls.

Thehistor
yofanatomyi scharacter
izedbyapr ogressi
veunderst
andingoft
hef uncti
onsofthe
organsandstr
ucturesofthehumanbody .Methodshavealsoimprov
eddramat i
call
y,advanci
ng
fr
om theexaminati
onofani malsbydi ssect
ionofcarcassesandcadaver
s(corpses)to20th
centurymedi
cali
magi ngtechniquesincludi
ngX- r
ay,ul
tr
asound,andmagneti
cr esonance
i
magi ng.

Anat
omyandphysi
ology
,whichst
udy(
respect
ivel
y)t
hestruct
ureandfuncti
onoforgani
sms
andt
hei
rpar
ts,
makeanat ur
alpai
rofr
elat
eddisci
pli
nes,
andt heyar
eoftenstudi
edtoget
her
.

Def
ini
ti
on Edi
t

Humancompar
edt
oel
ephantf
rame.Benj
ami
nWat
erhouseHawki
ns,
1860

Der i
vedfrom t
heGr eekἀν ατομήanatomē" dissecti
on"(f
rom ἀν ατέμνωanatémnō" Icutup, cut
open"f r
om ἀνάaná" up",andτέμν ωtémnō" Icut")
,[
5]anatomyi st
hescienti
fi
cst udyoft he
structur
eoforganismsi ncludi
ngtheirsy
stems, organsandt issues.I
tincl
udestheappear ance
andposi t
ionofthev ar
iouspar t
s,themateri
alsf r
om whicht heyarecomposed, theirl
ocat i
ons
andt hei
rrel
ati
onshipswi thotherpart
s.Anatomyi squitedistinctf
rom physi
ologyand
bi
ochemi str
y,whichdeal respecti
vel
ywiththef uncti
onsoft hosepartsandthechemi cal
processesinvol
ved.Forexampl e,
ananatomi stisconcernedwi ththeshape,si
ze, posit
ion,
struct
ure,bl
oodsuppl
yandinner
v at
ionofanor
gansuchastheli
ver
;whi
leaphysi
ologi
sti
s
i
nterestedinthepr
oduct
ionofbi
le,t
heroleoft
hel
iveri
nnut
rit
ionandt
heregul
ati
onofbodil
y
functi
ons.[
6]

Thedi sci
pli
neofanatomycanbesubdi vi
dedintoanumberofbr anchesincludinggrossor
macr oscopi
canatomyandmi croscopicanatomy .[
7]Gr ossanatomyi sthest udyofstructures
l
argeenought obeseenwi ththenakedey e,andalsoi ncludessuperfi
cialanatomyorsur face
anatomy ,t
hestudybysightoftheexternalbodyfeatures.Mi cr
oscopicanat omyi st
hest udyof
str
uct ur
esonami croscopi
cscale,i
ncludinghist
ology( thestudyoftissues),andembr yology
(t
hest udyofanorganism i
nit
si mmat urecondit
ion).
[3]

Anatomycanbest udiedusi ngbot hinvasi

veandnon- i
nvasivemet hodswi t
ht hegoal of
obtai
ninginformat i
onaboutt hestruct
ureandorganizati
onofor gansandsy stems.[3]Methods
usedincludedi ssect
ion, i
nwhi chabodyi sopenedandi tsorgansstudied,andendoscopy , i
n
whichav ideocamer a- equippedi nstr
umentisinser
tedthr oughasmal linci
sioni nt
hebodywal l
andusedt oexpl orethei nternalorgansandotherstructures.Angi
ographyusi ngX-ray sor
magnet i
cr esonanceangi ographyar emethodstovisuali
zebl oodvessels.[
8][
9][10]
[11]

Theterm" anatomy"iscommonl ytakentorefert

ohumananat omy.However,subst
anti
all
ythe
samestructuresandt i
ssuesar efoundthroughouttherestoftheanimalki
ngdom andtheterm
alsoi
ncludest heanatomyofot heranimals.Theterm zootomyisalsosometi
mesusedt o
speci
fi
call
yr efert
oani mals.Thestruct
ureandt i
ssuesofpl ant
sareofadissi
mi l
arnat
ureand
theyar
est udiedinplantanatomy .
[6]