Thorax
Bobby Krishnachetty, Abdul Syed, Harriet Scott in Applied Anatomy for the FRCA, 2020
This chapter is intended to cover the anatomical knowledge of thorax that helps trainee anesthetists who are revising for the Primary and Final FRCA exams. The topics of importance to anesthetists are presented under 'structures', 'circulation' and 'nervous system'. The chapter also includes a wide range of questions of clinical relevance that are asked in the exam. The superior thoracic aperture '(otherwise called thoracic inlet or outlet)' lies in an oblique transverse plane and connects the thoracic cavity with the root of the neck. The inferior thoracic aperture is larger and more oblique than the thoracic inlet and connects the thorax with the abdomen. Lungs are conical structures, where the right is heavier and larger but shorter than the left. The right lung is divided into three lobes by the oblique and horizontal fissures whilst the left has two lobes formed by the oblique fissure. The heart is a cone-shaped muscular organ weighing around 250 g situated in the middle mediastinum.
Thorax
David Heylings, Stephen Carmichael, Samuel Leinster, Janak Saada, Bari M. Logan, Ralph T. Hutchings in McMinn’s Concise Human Anatomy, 2017
The bony thoracic cage and its associated muscles form an airtight container that protects the heart and lungs, although the main purpose of the ribs is to assist with respiration. In normal quiet respiration, the principal muscle involved is the diaphragm, the muscular and tendinous partition separating the thorax and abdomen. The skeleton of the thorax is covered superficially by the muscles joining the upper limb to the chest wall, with the overlying breasts on the anterior chest wall. Needles or drainage tubes are inserted through the chest wall immediately above a rib, to keep away from the main intercostal vessels and nerves. If the negative pressure in the pleural cavity is destroyed, the lung collapses. If breathing is compromised, a tube may need to be inserted. Inflammation or cancer may cause fluid to collect in the pleural space, compressing the lung and causing difficulty in breathing.
Thoracic Spine, Chest, and Bony Thorax Radiography
Russell L. Wilson in Chiropractic Radiography and Quality Assurance Handbook, 2020
The bony thorax is a region of the body where one generally places the film to a landmark and then centers the tube to the film. This brings use to one of the old rules from radiographic physics. When radiographs of the thoracic spine are taken, one must deal with variation of tissue density and the effects of air in the lungs. The A-P view has the air-filled lung, aorta, and heart muscle superimposed on the spine. One needs to adjust the exposure to adequately visualize the thoracic spine behind the heart without burning out the upper thoracic spine. Patient measurements are different for the thoracic spine and the rest of the thoracic views. The A-P measurement is taken over the shoulder with the calipers in contact with the sternum and thoracic spine. The lateral thoracic spine measurements are taken just under the axilla, while the chest measurements are taken laterally at the middle of the chest.
Biomechanics of the thorax – research evidence and clinical expertise
Published in Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy, 2015
Understanding the biomechanics of the thorax is critical for understanding its role in multiple conditions since the thorax is part of many integrated systems including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiac, digestive and urogynecological. The thorax is also an integrated system within itself and an element of the whole body/person. Therefore, understanding the biomechanics of the thorax is fundamental to all forms of treatment for multiple conditions. The interpretation of movement examination findings depends on one's view of optimal biomechanics and the influential factors. This article will provide a synopsis of the current state of research evidence as well as observations from clinical experience pertaining to the biomechanics of the thorax in order to help clinicians organise this knowledge and facilitate evidence-based and informed management of the, often complex, patient with or without thoracic pain and impairment. The integrated systems model (ISM) will be introduced as a way to determine when the noted biomechanical findings are relevant to a patient's clinical presentation.
Magnetic susceptibility mapping of the human thorax using a SQUID Biomagnetometer
Published in Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology, 1994
S. C. Davies, C. Ni, J. Fardy, D. Rassi
Biomagnetism is essentially the study of the weak magnetic fields generated by biological organisms, in particular the human body. The human thorax is composed of a variety of tissues and organs of slightly different magnetic susceptibility. In an applied magnetic field (of the order of milliTeslas) these small differences in susceptibility lead to measurable field variations (of the order of nanoTeslas) at the body surface which may be of diagnostic value. Physiological processes such as cardiac activity, cardiac output, bloodflow and respiratory related lung volume changes also contribute to the observed signal. In this study susceptibility ‘maps’ were obtained by measuring the magnetic field at several hundred points over the thorax. Results indicate that magnetic susceptibility mapping produces low-resolution images of internal body structures from which is should be possible to detect pathologies that cause alterations in tissue susceptibility.
Development of a 10-year-old paediatric thorax finite element model validated against cardiopulmonary resuscitation data
Published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2014
Binhui Jiang, Libo Cao, Haojie Mao, Christina Wagner, Stan Marek, King H. Yang
Thoracic injury in the paediatric population is a relatively common cause of severe injury and has an accompanying high mortality rate. However, no anatomically accurate, complex paediatric chest finite element (FE) component model is available for a 10-year old in the published literature. In this study, a 10-year-old thorax FE model was developed based on internal and external geometries segmented from medical images. The model was then validated against published data measured during cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed on paediatric subjects.