| biceps muscle of thigh | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, long head (caput longum) from tuberosity of ischium, short head (caput breve) from lower half of lateral lip of linea aspera; insertion, head of fibula; action, flexes knee and rotates leg laterally; nerve supply, long head, tibial, short head, peroneal. Synonym: musculus biceps femoris, biceps muscle of thigh, musculus biceps flexor cruris. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| biopsy, muscle | <investigation, procedure, surgery> A procedure which involves the removal of a small specimen of muscle tissue for microscopic analysis. A muscle biopsy is used to distinguish between neurological and myopathic (muscle disease) disorders, identify muscular dystrophy, diagnose muscle infections and identify connective tissue disorders (necrotising vasculitis). (21 Mar 1998) |
| bipennate muscle | <anatomy> A muscle with a central tendon toward which the fibres converge on either side like the barbs of a feather. Synonym: musculus bipennatus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bochdalek's muscle | An occasional thin band of muscular fibres passing between the root of the tongue and the triticeal cartilage. Synonym: Bochdalek's muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bovero's muscle | <anatomy> The "sucking muscle," a labial muscle formed by sagittal fibres running from the skin to the mucous membrane. Synonym: Aeby's muscle, Bovero's muscle, compressor muscle of lips, Klein's muscle, Krause's muscle, mucocutaneous muscle, musculus cutaneomucosus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Bowman's muscle | <anatomy> The smooth muscle of the ciliary body; it consists of circular fibres (Muller's muscle) and radiating fibres (meridional fibres, or Brucke's muscle); action, in contracting, its diameter is reduced (like a sphincter), reducing tensile (stretching) forces on lens, allowing it to thicken for near vision (accommodation). Synonym: musculus ciliaris, Bowman's muscle, ciliary ligament. (05 Mar 2000) |
| brachial muscle | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, lower two-thirds of anterior surface of humerus; insertion, coronoid process of ulna; action, flexes elbow; nerve supply, musculocutaneous, usually with a minor contribution from the radial. Synonym: musculus brachialis, brachial muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| brachiocephalic muscle | In animals, a compound muscle passing from the brachium or humerus to the head and the dorsal cervical raphe; the clavicular insertion or clavicle subdivides the muscle. Synonym: brachiocephalic muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| brachioradial muscle | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, lateral supracondylar ridge of humerus; insertion, front of base of styloid process of radius; action, flexes elbow and assists slightly in supination; nerve supply, (common) radial. Synonym: musculus brachioradialis, brachioradial muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| branch of glossopharyngeal nerve to stylopharyngeus muscle | <anatomy> Sole motor branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve to the stylopharyngeus muscle. Synonym: ramus musculi stylopharyngei nervi glossopharyngei. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Braune's muscle | <anatomy> The medial part of the musculus levator ani (pubococcygeus muscle) that passes from the body of the pubis around the anus to form a muscular sling at the level of the anorectal junction; it contracts to increase the perineal flexure during a peristalsis to maintain faecal continence and relaxes to allow defecation. Synonym: musculus puborectalis, Braune's muscle, puborectal muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| broadest muscle of back | <anatomy, muscle> Origin, spinous processes of lower five or six thoracic and the lumbar vertebrae, median ridge of sacrum, and outer lip of iliac crest; insertion, with teres major into posterior lip of bicipital groove of humerus; action, adducts arm, rotates it medially, and extends it; nerve supply, thoracodorsal. Synonym: musculus latissimus dorsi, broadest muscle of back. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bronchoesophageal muscle | <anatomy> Muscular fascicles, arising from the wall of the left bronchus, which reinforce the musculature of the oesophagus. Synonym: musculus bronchoesophageus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Brucke's muscle | <anatomy> The part of the ciliary muscle formed by the meridional fibres. Synonym: Crampton's muscle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bulbocavernosus muscle | <anatomy> In the male: origin, the perineal membrane fascia on the dorsum of the bulb of the penis; insertion, central tendon of the perineum and the median raphe on the free surface of the bulb; action, constricts bulbous urethra when attempting to expel last drops following urination, or spasmodically with ejaculation to expel semen. In the female: origin, the dorsum of the clitoris, the corpus cavernosum, and the perineal membrane; insertion, central tendon of the perineum; action, acts as a weak sphincter of the vagina; when developed, is a part of "cross-member musculature" of pelvic floor which resists prolapse of pelvic viscera. Nerve supply, pudendal (deep perineal branch). Synonym: musculus bulbospongiosus, musculus bulbocavernosus, musculus ejaculator seminis, musculus sphincter vaginae, sphincter vaginae. (05 Mar 2000) |