SuperficialAnatomy

Anatomical features that can be observed by sight (without dissection), including the form and proportions of the human body as well as surface landmarks that correspond to deeper subcutaneous structures. Superficial anatomy plays an important role in sports medicine, phlebotomy, and other medical specialties as underlying anatomical structures can be identified through surface palpation. For example, during back surgery, superficial anatomy can be used to palpate and count vertebrae to find the site of incision. Or in phlebotomy, superficial anatomy can be used to locate an underlying vein; for example, the median cubital vein can be located by palpating the borders of the cubital fossa (such as the epicondyles of the humerus) and then looking for the superficial signs of the vein, such as size, prominence, ability to refill after depression, and feel of surrounding tissue support. As another example, in a subluxation (dislocation) of the glenohumeral joint, the bony structure becomes pronounced with the deltoid muscle failing to cover the glenohumeral joint allowing the edges of the scapula to be superficially visible. Here, the superficial anatomy is the visible edges of the scapula, implying the underlying dislocation of the joint (the related anatomical structure).

Type Information

• Parent Type: MedicalEntity
• Schema.org URL: https://schema.org/SuperficialAnatomy

Properties

| Property | Expected Type | Description | |----------|---------------|-------------| | associatedPathophysiology | Text | If applicable, a description of the pathophysiology associated with the anatomical system, including potential abnormal changes in the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of the system. | | relatedTherapy | MedicalTherapy | A medical therapy related to this anatomy. | | relatedAnatomy | AnatomicalStructure or AnatomicalSystem | Anatomical systems or structures that relate to the superficial anatomy. | | relatedCondition | MedicalCondition | A medical condition associated with this anatomy. | | significance | Text | The significance associated with the superficial anatomy; as an example, how characteristics of the superficial anatomy can suggest underlying medical conditions or courses of treatment. |

Properties from MedicalEntity

| Property | Expected Type | Description | |----------|---------------|-------------| | code | MedicalCode | A medical code for the entity, taken from a controlled vocabulary or ontology such as ICD-9, DiseasesDB, MeSH, SNOMED-CT, RxNorm, etc. | | study | MedicalStudy | A medical study or trial related to this entity. | | funding | Grant | A [[Grant]] that directly or indirectly provide funding or sponsorship for this item. See also [[ownershipFundingInfo]]. | | recognizingAuthority | Organization | If applicable, the organization that officially recognizes this entity as part of its endorsed system of medicine. | | guideline | MedicalGuideline | A medical guideline related to this entity. | | medicineSystem | MedicineSystem | The system of medicine that includes this MedicalEntity, for example 'evidence-based', 'homeopathic', 'chiropractic', etc. | | relevantSpecialty | MedicalSpecialty | If applicable, a medical specialty in which this entity is relevant. | | legalStatus | DrugLegalStatus or MedicalEnumeration or Text | The drug or supplement's legal status, including any controlled substance schedules that apply. |

Properties from Thing

| Property | Expected Type | Description | |----------|---------------|-------------| | digital | Number | A number from 0.0 to 1.0 representing the degree of digital vs physical embodiment. 1.0 = fully digital, 0.0 = fully physical, 0.5 = hybrid. | | disambiguatingDescription | Text | A sub property of description. A short description of the item used to disambiguate from other, similar items. Information from other properties (in particular, name) may be necessary for the description to be useful for disambiguation. | | potentialAction | Action | Indicates a potential Action, which describes an idealized action in which this thing would play an 'object' role. | | additionalType | Text or URL | An additional type for the item, typically used for adding more specific types from external vocabularies in microdata syntax. This is a relationship between something and a class that the thing is in. Typically the value is a URI-identified RDF class, and in this case corresponds to the use of rdf:type in RDF. Text values can be used sparingly, for cases where useful information can be added without their being an appropriate schema to reference. In the case of text values, the class label should follow the schema.org style guide. | | identifier | URL or Text or PropertyValue | The identifier property represents any kind of identifier for any kind of [[Thing]], such as ISBNs, GTIN codes, UUIDs etc. Schema.org provides dedicated properties for representing many of these, either as textual strings or as URL (URI) links. See background notes for more details. | | image | ImageObject or URL | An image of the item. This can be a [[URL]] or a fully described [[ImageObject]]. | | sameAs | URL | URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity. E.g. the URL of the item's Wikipedia page, Wikidata entry, or official website. | | description | Text or TextObject | A description of the item. | | alternateName | Text | An alias for the item. | | url | URL | URL of the item. | | subjectOf | Event or CreativeWork | A CreativeWork or Event about this Thing. | | name | Text | The name of the item. | | mainEntityOfPage | CreativeWork or URL | Indicates a page (or other CreativeWork) for which this thing is the main entity being described. See background notes for details. |