The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws and/or nails.
The leg is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or buttock region. The major bones of the leg are the femur, tibia, and adjacent fibula. The thigh is between the hip and knee, while the calf (rear) and shin (front) are between the knee and foot.
In the human body, the cuboid bone is one of the seven tarsal bones of the foot.
The tibial nerve is a branch of the sciatic nerve. The tibial nerve passes through the popliteal fossa to pass below the arch of soleus.
In human anatomy, the adductor pollicis muscle is a muscle in the hand that functions to adduct the thumb. It has two heads: transverse and oblique.
In human anatomy, the dorsal interossei of the foot are four muscles situated between the metatarsal bones.
The flexor hallucis longus muscle (FHL) attaches to the plantar surface of phalanx of the great toe and is responsible for flexing that toe. The FHL is one of the three deep muscles of the posterior compartment of the leg, the others being the flexor digitorum longus and the tibialis posterior. The tibialis posterior is the most powerful of these deep muscles. All three muscles are innervated by the tibial nerve which comprises half of the sciatic nerve.
The flexor digitorum longus muscle is situated on the tibial side of the leg. At its origin it is thin and pointed, but it gradually increases in size as it descends. It serves to flex the second, third, fourth, and fifth toes.
The extensor digitorum brevis muscle is a muscle on the upper surface of the foot that helps extend digits 2 through 4.
The Adductor hallucis arises by two heads—oblique and transverse and is responsible for adducting the big toe. It has two heads, both are innervated by the lateral plantar nerve.
Flexor hallucis brevis muscle is a muscle of the foot that flexes the big toe.
The flexor digitorum brevis is a muscle which lies in the middle of the sole of the foot, immediately above the central part of the plantar aponeurosis, with which it is firmly united.
The abductor digiti minimi is a muscle which lies along the lateral (outer) border of the foot, and is in relation by its medial margin with the lateral plantar artery, vein and nerves.
The sole is the bottom of the foot.
The medial plantar nerve is the larger of the two terminal divisions of the tibial nerve, which accompanies the medial plantar artery.
The lateral plantar nerve is a branch of the tibial nerve, in turn a branch of the sciatic nerve and supplies the skin of the fifth toe and lateral half of the fourth, as well as most of the deep muscles, its distribution being similar to that of the ulnar nerve in the hand.
The plantar metatarsal arteries are four in number, arising from the convexity of the plantar arch. They run forward between the metatarsal bones and in contact with the Interossei. They are located in the fourth layer of the foot.
The medial plantar artery, much smaller than the lateral plantar artery, passes forward along the medial side of the foot.
The lateral tarsal artery arises from the dorsalis pedis, as that vessel crosses the navicular bone; it passes in an arched direction lateralward, lying upon the tarsal bones, and covered by extensor hallucis brevis and extensor digitorum brevis; it supplies these muscles and the articulations of the tarsus, and receives the arcuate over the base of the fifth metatarsal. It may receive contributions from branches of the anterior lateral malleolar and the perforating branch of the peroneal artery directed towards the joint capsule, and from the lateral plantar arteries through perforating arteries of the foot.
The arcuate artery of the foot arises from dorsalis pedis slightly anterior to the lateral tarsal artery, specifically over the naviculocuneiform joint; it passes lateralward, over the bases of the lateral four metatarsal bones, beneath the tendons of the extensor digitorum brevis, its direction being influenced by its point of origin; and it terminates in the lateral tarsal artery. It communicates with the plantar arteries through the perforating arteries of the foot.
