Tech in Surgery Prep / Unit 3 TSC 054 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Body Planes and Sections
The idea
A plane is an imaginary flat surface that divides the body or an organ, and three planes are used most in anatomy and imaging.
In practice
Picture each cut in turn. First, the sagittal plane divides the body vertically into right and left sides; if it runs exactly down the middle, it is the midsagittal or median plane, and if it is off center, it is parasagittal. Second, the frontal plane, also called the coronal plane, divides the body vertically into a front and a back portion. Third, the transverse plane divides the body horizontally into upper and lower portions, and the images it produces are called cross sections. Planes at an angle to these are called oblique.
Where people slip
Imaging is read in these planes. A computed tomography scan is often shown as a series of transverse sections, so a surgeon studying a scan is reading cross sections from one level to the next.
Your place on the trail
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