sagittal plane

Examples of sagittal plane in the following topics:

• Body Planes and Sections

  • There are three basic reference planes used in anatomy: the sagittal plane, the coronal plane, and the transverse plane.
  • The sagittal plane (lateral or Y-Z plane) divides the body into sinister and dexter (left and right) sides.
  • The midsagittal (median) plane is in the midline through the center of the body, and all other sagittal planes are parallel to it.
  • The coronal plane, the sagittal plane, and the parasaggital planes are examples of longitudinal planes.
  • There are three basic planes in zoological anatomy: sagittal, coronal, and transverse.

• Animal Characterization Based on Body Symmetry

  • Bilateral symmetry involves the division of the animal through a sagittal plane, resulting in two mirror-image, right and left halves, such as those of a butterfly, crab, or human body .
  • This monarch butterfly demonstrates bilateral symmetry down the sagittal plane, with the line of symmetry running from ventral to dorsal and dividing the body into two left and right halves.

• Epithalamus and Pineal Gland

  • A brain sectioned in the median sagittal plane.

• Animal Body Planes and Cavities

  • A sagittal plane divides the body into right and left portions.
  • A frontal plane (also called a coronal plane) separates the front (ventral) from the back (dorsal).
  • A transverse plane (or, horizontal plane) divides the animal into upper and lower portions.
  • Shown are the planes of a quadruped goat and a bipedal human.
  • The frontal plane divides the front and back, while the transverse plane divides the body into upper and lower portions.

• Balance and Determining Equilibrium

  • One is oriented in the horizontal plane, whereas the other two are oriented in the vertical plane.
  • The anterior and posterior vertical canals are oriented at approximately 45 degrees relative to the sagittal plane .
  • As the head rotates in a plane parallel to the semicircular canal, the fluid lags, deflecting the cupula in the direction opposite to the head movement.
  • The movement of two canals within a plane results in information about the direction in which the head is moving, and activation of all six canals can give a very precise indication of head movement in three dimensions.

• Movement at Synovial Joints

  • Protraction is the anterior movement of a bone in the horizontal plane.
  • (a)–(b) Flexion and extension motions are in the sagittal (anterior–posterior) plane of motion.
  • (e) Abduction and adduction are motions of the limbs, hand, fingers, or toes in the coronal (medial–lateral) plane of movement.

• Bursae and Tendon Sheaths

  • The synovial lining in the bursae and tendon sheaths is similar to that within joints, with a slippery non-adherent surface allowing movement between planes of tissue.

• Spherical and Plane Waves

  • Spherical waves come from point source in a spherical pattern; plane waves are infinite parallel planes normal to the phase velocity vector.
  • A plane wave is a constant-frequency wave whose wavefronts (surfaces of constant phase) are infinite parallel planes of constant peak-to-peak amplitude normal to the phase velocity vector .
  • It is not possible in practice to have a true plane wave; only a plane wave of infinite extent will propagate as a plane wave.
  • However, many waves are approximately plane waves in a localized region of space.
  • Plane waves are an infinite number of wavefronts normal to the direction of the propogation.

• Vectors in the Plane

  • Vectors are needed in order to describe a plane and can give the direction of all dimensions in one vector equation.
  • Planes in a three dimensional space can be described mathematically using a point in the plane and a vector to indicate its "inclination".
  • As such, the equation that describes the plane is given by:
  • which we call the point-normal equation of the plane and is the general equation we use to describe the plane.
  • This plane may be described parametrically as the set of all points of the form$\mathbf R = \mathbf {R}_0 + s \mathbf{V} + t \mathbf{W}$, where $s$ and $t$ range over all real numbers, $\mathbf{V}$ and $\mathbf{W}$ are given linearly independent vectors defining the plane, and $\mathbf{R_0}$ is the vector representing the position of an arbitrary (but fixed) point on the plane.

• Equations of Lines and Planes

  • A line is a vector which connects two points on a plane and the direction and magnitude of a line determine the plane on which it lies.
  • A line is essentially a representation of a cross section of a plane, or a two dimensional version of a plane which is a three dimensional object.
  • The components of equations of lines and planes are as follows:
  • This direction is described by a vector, $\mathbf{v}$, which is parallel to plane and $P$ is the arbitrary point on plane $M$.
  • where $t$ represents the location of vector $\mathbf{r}$ on plane $M$.