As a research method, sectional anatomy was used in the study of human anatomy as early as 16 century. At that time, Italian painter leonardo da vinci painted the midsagittal section of male and female trunks. Vesalé, the founder of modern anatomy, studied the cross-sectional anatomy of the brain. /kloc-in the 0/7th century, some scholars showed slices of the brain, eyes and genitals respectively. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, Haller, S.Soemmering and Vicq d'Azgr drew various profiles of the brain; Campers carved a vertical section of the basin; Scarpa uses the cross section of the basin to express the surgical method of lithotomy. From 16 to 18, the main reason that hindered the development of sectional anatomy was the lack of methods to harden the corpse to maintain the structure in place. 19th century to the first half of 20th century is an important period for the development of human sectional anatomy. On the one hand, the methods of sectional anatomy have been perfected, and on the other hand, many valuable atlas of human sectional anatomy have been published.

Dutch anatomist Merle (18 18) took the lead in preparing the sectional specimens by freezing method, and published the atlas. Gerota( 1895) poured 5% formalin solution into the corpse and then frozen it, thus perfecting the frozen section method. At present, this principle is still used to prepare human sectional specimens. Huschke (1844) published 10 cross-sectional pictures of neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis by using the dead girl of 18 months. These beautiful and useful cross sections excited him. Pirogov, a great Russian anatomist and surgeon, prepared sectional specimens by natural freezing method from 1852 to 1859, and published landmark works on sectional anatomy. This masterpiece consists of five volumes: one volume with 80 pages of descriptive materials and four volumes with 265,438+03 sections, including the cross sections of head, chest, abdomen, abdomen and limbs. Gendre( 1858), a Frenchman, buried the corpse in plaster and compiled the anatomical atlas of transverse, sagittal and oblique sections of all parts of the body, with 25 sections, each with a brief text description. German Braune( 1872) completed the anatomical atlas of three basic sections of various parts of the human body, described the adjacent relationship of organs in detail, and commented on the previous work. His book was reprinted twice and translated into English. When reading the second edition, Heng Ke noticed the problem of structural reconstruction through cross section. He rebuilt the heart and projected its outline on the chest wall. Rudinger (1873), Dwight (188 1) and Symington (1887) respectively studied the sectional anatomy of children. Dalton (1885) has published three volumes of brain sectional anatomical atlas, with cross section, sagittal section and coronal section 1 volume respectively. The picture consists of black-and-white photos and corresponding line drawings of isolated brain sectional specimens, and the text part includes illustrations and a brief description of sectional characteristics. Hart( 1885) sorted out the local and sectional anatomical maps of female pelvis, but the sections were few and thick. Marcel Wen (1893) published a book entitled "Sectional Anatomy Atlas of the Head", which consists of seven groups of continuous sectional maps of the head.

Due to the improvement of frozen section method, the research on sectional anatomy has made important progress in the early 20th century. In 1903, Sellheim studied three kinds of pelvic sections of women of different ages. 19 1 1 year, after nine years' research, Eycleshymer and Schoemaker in the United States selected materials from 50 corpses and published a continuous cross-sectional anatomical map of the whole body. This atlas is beautifully drawn and carefully marked, and it is a classic of human sectional anatomy. In 1924, Desjardins drew a cross-sectional anatomical map of the human torso, which is characterized by simplicity, vividness and emphasis. 1944, Morton made the Manual of Cross-sectional Anatomy of Human Body, which contains the cross-sectional anatomical map of various parts of the human body. 195 1 year, Ludwig studied the cross-sectional anatomy of the brain; Singh drew a sagittal sectional anatomy of the human brain at 1954. 1956, Symington published Anatomical Atlas of Human Cross Section. The sectional drawings are all natural in size and well drawn.

After 1970, due to the clinical application of ultrasound imaging (USG), X-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a new era of sectional image anatomy research was opened.