Gross anatomy is things that can be seen with the unaided eye.

Anatomical Position It is a standard position to describe anatomical location and parts. The person stands with their face and eyes forward. Their hands are in the side with palms facing forward. The thumbs would be facing lateral and pinky facing the medial side. The anatomical position allows us to reference anatomical parts. The feet must be together, with toes facing forward. The superficial is towards the surface and deep is the structure underneath. The skin is superficial. The bone and muscle is deep in the skin. Medial is towards the midline of the body and lateral is away from the midline of the body. The fingers are in the medial side of the body and the thumb is in lateral position in anatomical position. If something is proximal, it is close to the trunk of the body. If something is distal, it is away from the trunk of the body. For example, the shoulders are proximal to the elbow. The elbow is distal to the shoulders. Parts closer to the body are proximal. Body parts away from the body are distal. The flat surface of the foot is the sole of the foot. The dorsal surface of the foot is the top of the foot. Planes of the body could be used to describe anatomical structures. There are three planes in the body. The coronal plane divides the body in posterior and anterior position. The sagittal plane is the midline (divides the body from left and right). The transverse plane divides the body from top and bottom.

Tissues There are four types of tissues in the body. Epithelial Tissues: lines the inside and outside of the body. They are generally used for protection. The respiratory and digestive system has access to the outside of the body. They are lines with epithelial tissues. One of the things the skin does is protect one from dehydration. The epithelial tissues are permeable. The smallest thinnest components of the respiratory and circulatory system are lined with thin epithelial and tissues that are one cell thick. Some epithelial tissues are selective permeable. The skin has two layers. The top layer is called the epidermis and underneath is the connective tissue called the dermis. Most of the sensory receptors in the skin are in the dermis. Very few sensory

receptors are found in the epidermis of the skin. Very few receptors are found in the epithelial lining of the skin. Both endocrine and exocrine types of glands are derived from various types of epithelial tissues. An exocrine gland is a gland that has a duct or tubule. Some epithelial tissues derive to become the excretory cells of the gland. The salivary glands are an example of exocrine gland. There are series of glands throughout the body that produce hormones and are transported around the body in the circulatory system. These are endocrine glands. Between the epithelial tissues and the connective tissues are the basement membranes. The basement membrane is fibrous that connects the epithelial cell to the connective tissue. The basement membrane is selectively permeable. The basal lamina represents the fibres from epithelial down. The reticular lamina represents the connective tissue up. The shapes of the cells are important when looking at epithelial tissues. There are squamous cells that are flat. Cuboidal cells are cube shaped. Columnar shapes cells are column shaped. One layer of cells means it is simple, such as simple squamous cells. More than one layer of cells means that they are stratified, such as stratified squamous cells. Simple squamous cells are found in the alveoli of the lungs and capillaries. The alveoli are where gas exchange takes place. The capillaries are the smallest thinnest design of the vascular system. They are one cell thick and simple squamous in design. The vascular system brings to the lung blood with CO2. The CO2 goes across into the lung. The oxygen goes across the membrane of the lungs and capillaries and are picked up by the vascular system. The CO2 is then got rid of. The oxygen is carried from the capillary back to the heart and pumped to the rest of the body. The simple squamous cells are found in the root of the amniotic cavity of a developing fetus.

Cells that are cuboid in shape and are one cell thick are simple cuboidal cells. These types of cells are found in the nephron. The nephron are found in the urinary system. The nephron has coiled tubes that are lined with simple cuboidal cells.

The simple columnar cell has a part of the circulatory system in it inside the connective tissues. Simple columnar cells are found in the small intestine. In the small intestine they are non-ciliated. Cilia are small hairlike projections attached to the cell. Goblet cells are used to protect the inner lining of the digestive cells. The fallopian tube has ciliated simple columnar cells.