Beauty of Form and Function

The Common Vein Copyright 2008

A formative experience arose in my second year during our introductory anatomy course by Professor Philip Tobias.  We were obliged to take the Hippocratic oath before being allowed into the dissection halls.  This introduction to anatomy was, therefore, one of our first entries as privileged people into the worlds and bodies of others, teaching us to maintain respectfulness and humility.  Professor Tobias explained that we were going to spend a very intense year among the odors of formalin, delving into the secret innards of dead people, and that the body in the end would be a mere remnant of the former person.  The muscles and nerves would be exposed, the organs removed, and the face, the former mark and feature of a unique individual, would lose its identity.   This experience inspired me to realize that biology, anatomy, medicine, health, disease, and life itself is an integrated experience.  Learning the one was not possible in isolation.  In fact I learned that nothing is, exists, happens in isolation.

In order to instill a perspective of the eventual purpose to this seemingly destructive method of learning, Professor Tobias invited a duet of professional classical ballet dancers and a pair of black belt karate experts into the lecture room.  He wanted them to display the beauty and form that pieces of muscle, nerve and gut can actually accomplish in their prime of health, when structure and function are in perfect harmony.  To this he added the element of a creative soul that drove these four people to their expressive peaks.

 

 

Study of Anatomy Through Dissection

Remember The Beauty of Form and Function When It all Works Together
01900.800 adrenal aorta IVC kidney liver lung small bowel ureter diaphragm normal fetal lobation neonate growth time grossanatomy Davidoff MD

87162pb01bs.8 dance beauty of form and function grace coordination Davidoff art Davidoff photography copyright 2008

 

 

Cells and Tissues

The Liver
13440 liver hepatocytes cells cytology histology normal 5star  Courtesy Barbara Banner MD

13236 liver hepatocyte liver cords sinusoids cytoplasmic granules connective tissue reticulin histopathology histology Courtesy Barbara Banner MD

The Organs

The Normal Heart and Coronary Arteries
22390c01s heart cardiac normal coronary arteries left ventricle left anterior descending artery diagonal arteries circumflex coronary artery barium injection normal anatomy pathology Davidoff photography copyright 2008 high resolution

Units to Unity – Toward Oneness
13440c11.8 units to unity atom element molecule chromosome DNA cell tissue organ liver system body person couple family community town village city state country world solar system universe Davidoff art copyright 2008

Dance of the Butterflies
80753pb01.800 Dancers Arielle Davidoff art Davidoff photography Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD

Dance of the Body
46580b02.800 body dance brain nerve muscle Davidoff art

Angels in Blue
83664.800 Angels in Blue Dance Davidoff Art

 Fiery Flamenco Dance
82595.8s gallbladder bile duct inflammation flamenco dance fiery fire acute calculous cholecystitis Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD copyright 2008

The Airway
32620b14.8 tree flower tracheobronchial tree trachea bronchi lung Davidoff tree Davidoff Art

More Trees in the Chest

Pulmonary Circulation
46649c01.800 lung pulmonary artery pulmonary trunk Davidoff Trees Davidoff Art

Alveoli of the Lung – Factory Workers
This is a drawing of a cluster of alveoli surrounded by the capillary network, fed by an arteriole in blue, and drained by a venule in red. The second image shows the exchange of life giving oxygen for the by product of  metabolic activity – carbon dioxide

 

Courtesy of Ashley Davidoff M.D. 

 

32164 32165 code RS lung alveolus respiratory bronchiole artery vein pulmonary capillary normal anatomy histology drawing 

 

 

Tubes For Transport

Large Surface Area For Exchange

Grapes of the lung – alveoli
This artistic rendition of the workhorses of the lung – the alveoli – the appearance of the alveoli around the terminal airways has been likned to bunch of grapes.

Davidoff art 13440c06i07

Feelings

The Somatosensory Cortex – Post Central Gyrus
83029b01.8s brain somatosensory cortex pareital lobe medial longitudinal fissure medially central sulcus anteriorly postcentral sulcus posteriorly lateral sulcus inferiorly location of primary somatosensory cortex main sensory receptive area touch. maps sensory space homunculus in this location The Common vein Davidoff art

The Feeling Side of Mr Homunculus

Functional Gating
The diagram reflects the relative space each body part occupies in the somatosensory cortex by reflecting organs that have high density of sensory receptors and nerves as large organs and those with a lesser sensory apparatus as small organs. Hence the mouth lips, hands feet and genitalia have a relatively large representation. The homunculus man (literally the “little man”) is the distorted figure drawn to reflect the concept of size of organ paralleling the size of the sensory innervation.

somatosensory cortex (sensory homunculus) spinothalamic tract spinal cord thalamus sensory cortex homunculus man penis clitoris genitals genitalia foot body thigh abdomen chest and face mouth eyes lips viscera somatosensory Davidoff art Copyright 2008 38610b09.46k.8s

Shoulder Bridge
39177.800 bone shoulder joint clavicle fx healed fracture trauma normal humerus normal scapula plain X-ray Davidoff MD

Youth on the Run
64163b01 health youth age time physiology boy running happy davidoff photgraphy Davidoff MD

A Delicate strings of Life
A close-up view if the resilient tiger lily in orange glory. Two delicate threads of a spider web sit delicately between the petal and a bud. 02120p  Davidoff photography

The Breasts
79560p.800 flowers breasts structure anatomy Davidoff art Davidoff photography TCV applied biology The Common

The Breasts – Functional Beauty

Skin Deep
42657b16a Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD breast lobule duct nipple fat glands glandular tissue normal anatomy drawing art

 

Macrophage  many Arms of the Law
71680b04.800 reticuloendothelial system macrophage cell wbc protection immune scavenger leukocyte white cell Davidoff art Davidoff MD normal cytology

Droplets on Leaves Catching the Water
65423 leaves leaf water droplets rain forces green shape sphere cohesion Davidoff MD Davidoff photography

Mountain Farms in Peru

How do they Change the Form of the Mountain to CAtch the Water and Create a Farm in the Mountains?
0178.800 Peru farm wall units to unity mountains vertical agriculture food the common vein applied biology Davidoff photography Davidoff MD

Black Bird at the Commons

Secrets of Flight
82056pb01.800 bird black drying off The Commons Boston Davidoff MD

Portal Circulation

Roots Sustenance Nutrition  Branching and Flourishing 

 The tree has a root system below and a branching system above. The nature of the tree and biology is to be gifted a brief period to enable us to borrow from the earth, and  to evolve the raw products toward the heavens. (Davidoff art)45828b12.800

A Tube Blowing off Steam

Chimney from the Underground
Smoke in New York city Courtesy Ashley Davidoff code accessory interesting chimney tube smoke New York 2001p

Welcome to the Home of My Seed

Please Feel Free to Partake and Distribute

Cosmos
89309p.8s flower Cosmos red green dark pink Davidoff Art Davidoff photography copyright 2008 Portsmouth New Hampshire

Beyond the Flowers  – Not so still life
82715p Davidoff art

Shopping At the SuperMarket- Bags of Food to Take Home

Plastic or Paper?  No Thanks Just Dump Em on My Legs

Oh Heck Spilled Some on the Leaves!
02100p Davidoff photography

I Might Look Pretty – But I am MAde For Work not For Comfort

Flowers on a Chair
82749p Property of Janine and David Goldstein Photography Talya Davidoff art

Reap Transport Store

Gathering on a farm in Pennsylvania
02512p food farm gathering receiving packing transporting TCV the common vein Davidoff photography

Selling Souvenirs in Peru
06046pb01.8s Peru function streetside people Indian mountains selling souvenirs Davidoff photography copyright 2009 all rights reserved

Finding The Centre of Gravity

Power of the Vestibular System and the The Spine
57984.800 farm red peppers vegetables South Africa gather picking transport work Davidoff photography

The Red Onion

Storing the Carbohydrates in Layers of Tight Shelves
84411p.800 red onion parts making up the whole units to unity vegetable Davidoff photography

The Liver

Clockwork purple – 24/7

A Model of Efficiency – And Quite Beautiful Too
44426b01 liver hepatic clockwork purple anatomy Davidoff art

Strings of the Heart
Anatomic image of the chordae affixing to the apex of the anterior leaflet of TV. The tip of the anterolateral papillary muscle can be seen at the bottom of the image. This muscle as previously noted is constant and characteristic of the RV. Courtesy of Ashley Davidoff M.D. 32097

Brooklyn Suspension Bridge Upside Down
13268b.81 Brooklyn Bridge suspension bridge upside down lines and strings cables water New York Manahattan Brooklyn Davidoff photography Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD

Strings of the Heart From Above
The most beautiful feature of the LA (in my opinion of course) is its view of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve through the annulus. To see the chordae and the sail of the anterior leaflet biphasically flap-flapping must be a sight to behold. Courtesy of Ashley Davidoff M.D. code cardiac heart normal MV mitral valve anatomy 32106

Cauda Equina
78200.84b01 spinal cord cauda equina horses tail CT myelogram Davidoff art Courtesy Ashley DAvidoff MD

70125b01.800 A brown horse in a green meadow early in the spring Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD code accessory interesting horse brown Davidoff photography

 

 Phone Line Toys of Line Wire Rays of Sun
Two boys play barefoot with complex homemade toys in the hills of the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa – in the dawn of the sunset Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD. Davidoff photography 5 star 02105p01 code accessory interesting toy boy rural sunset

Cells Clustered Around the Transport System

Gland and its Ductule
39939b05 Courtesy Ashley Davidoff MD

Parts of the lungs
82738p chest lung connective tissue pulmonary artery pulmonary vein axial interstitial tissue secondary lobule lobes segments trachea bronchi interlobular septa polygonal Davidoff art

Another tree of Functional Efficiency

The Splenic Artery
82068b07b02s spleen artery splenic artery trees in the body normal anatomy trees in the body Davidoff art Courtesy Ashley Davidoff copyright 2008

A Transport System

The Biliary Tree
 

46411b11.800 interesting accessory Davidoff art

The Spine

After Chagall – The Circus Rider, c.1927
82045.8s Chagall horse circus angel art and medicine Art Institute of Chicago Davidoff Art

Breast -A Gland with an  Arborizing Pattern of Efficiency 

Another Tree of the Body
46791c02b01.800 breast glandular tissue applied biology appliued anatomy Davidoff art Davidoff trees

Breast Tree in Bloom
46792b09.800 breast glandular tissue applied biology appliued anatomy Davidoff art Davidoff trees