Spine anatomy in 3D

Structure of the vertebral column

A typical vertebra has a body in front and a vertebral arch behind, made of two pedicles and two laminae. The arch carries a spinous process, two transverse processes and four articular processes. Body and arch enclose the vertebral foramen, and the stacked foramina form the vertebral canal for the spinal cord.

Each region has its own features: cervical vertebrae have a foramen in each transverse process, thoracic vertebrae have facets for the ribs, and lumbar vertebrae have large kidney-shaped bodies. The atlas has no body, and the axis carries the dens. Between the bodies lie discs of annulus fibrosus around a nucleus pulposus.

What the 3D model shows

The vertebral column view contains 48 separate parts: the atlas, the axis and the vertebrae C3–C7, all twelve thoracic and five lumbar vertebrae, the sacrum, and the 23 intervertebral discs from C2–C3 down to L5–S1. Every vertebra and disc is its own named piece, so you can click, hide or isolate it. The coccyx is not part of this view. The explode slider pulls the vertebrae and discs apart along the column.

How to study the spine

Begin with the lateral view to see the four curvatures and how the bodies grow larger from the neck to the lower back. Isolate one vertebra from each region, for example C5, T6 and L3, and compare the body, the spinous process and the transverse processes. Turn to the superior view of the atlas and axis to see how the dens sits in the ring of C1. Then explode the column, hide the labels and name each vertebra from C1 to L5 from memory, together with one feature that identifies its region.