coronalplane

A coronal plane, also known as the frontal plane, is an imaginary line that divides the body or an object into front (anterior) and back (posterior) sections. In human anatomy, the coronal plane is oriented vertically and runs from side to side, perpendicular to the sagittal plane which divides the body into left and right halves. Imagine a pane of glass standing upright and slicing through you from ear to ear; that slicing plane represents the coronal plane.

This anatomical reference plane is crucial for describing the location and orientation of structures within the body. For example, a tumor located on the front of the chest would be described as being in the anterior aspect, while a structure at the back of the head is in the posterior aspect. Medical imaging techniques such as CT scans and MRIs often display images in coronal views, allowing clinicians to visualize the body's anatomy in this specific orientation. Understanding the coronal plane helps in precisely communicating anatomical positions and in diagnosing and treating medical conditions. It is one of the three primary anatomical planes, along with the sagittal and transverse (horizontal) planes, used to describe spatial relationships in three-dimensional space.