"Atlas" of the Human Body
With all layers of the skin removed on the left side of the head and neck, the dissection displays the blood vessels and nerves of the scalp, almost all of which come from the periphery, not through the skull. Colored latex was injected into the blood vessels: red for arteries, blue for veins. The structures in the neck remain covered by a tough layer of tissue known as the cervical fascia. Dr. Bassett used an embalming fluid of his own making to better preserve the color of the tissues.
A deep dissection of the side of the head shows the many blood vessels (red arteries, blue veins) and nerves (graying white) in the facial region. The hole is the external ear canal. The temporal muscle, used for chewing, is the prominent fan shaped muscle on the side of skull, behind the mouth and above the jaw.
After the removal of an outer layer of bones around the jaw, the dissection shows blood vessels and sensory nerves to the lower teeth and chin. The process was slow, in part because the Kodachrome film had to be sent to Kodak in Rochester, N.Y., to be developed. Mr. Gruber had to check that the photos came out satisfactorily before Dr. Basset could proceed with his dissection.
Inside the vertebral column, cut in half vertically, is a channel for the spinal nerves. The brown material is the bones; the white material is the intervertral disks that sometimes "rupture," causing back pain. A horizontal split has been made on the left to show the connection of the sacrum, a triangular bone at the base of the spine, to the pelvis.
An elbow joint has been disassembled to show the relationship of three bones: the humerus of the upper arm, top, and the two forearm bones, the radius and ulna.
This view of the wrist joint features the two rows of four carpal bones each and shows how they are connected to the bones of the forearm and the fingers.
A dissection of the leg and the foot displays the long tendons connected to the toes, and the blood vessels and nerves to the top of the foot.
Removal of the skin and the layer of tough tissue beneath it, the palmar fascia, reveals a complex arrangement of blood vessels and nerves in the hand and wrist.
This dissection of the backbone was performed by Donald Stilwell, another Stanford professor, for the Bassett atlas. Note the profusion of arterial blood vessels nourishing the vertebral area of the neck and chest area. Also, at the top, the ends of the vertebral arteries, which pass into the skull to nourish the brain.
This mediastinum, a central chest compartment located between the lungs, houses the heart. Immediately to the right of the heart is the aorta, the largest artery of the body. To the right of the aorta are groups of blood vessels (one artery and two companion veins) that run between the ribs to distribute blood through the body. The phrenic nerve, which sends messages to the diaphragm to breath, is visible as it crosses the heart vertically.
A pelvis from a woman, right, is lighter and wider than that of a man, left. The wider angle of a woman's pubic bones at the base of the pelvis allows birthing of a baby.
The onion-like structure is an eye, seen from above with the bony roof of the eye socket removed. The profusion of blood vessels and the muscles that rotate the eye are visible.
This dissection of the kidneys was done after red latex was injected into the arteries and blue latex into the veins.
The chest wall skeleton made up of ribs and cartilage (white), which connect the upper 10 ribs to the sternum, or breast bone. The muscles between the ribs have been removed, and the lungs can be seen in the chest cavity.
Performed by : Dr. David L. Bassett
Photos by : William B. Gruber
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Originally Posted by ss30
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