The Bones of the Thorax

     The chest or the thorax, also known as the thoracic cage, mainly includes the ribs: these long flat bone that bend and meet at the front, at the sternum. This cage protects the lungs and the heart, and it forms a sealed cavity (sealed at the base by the diaphragm, and open only at the top, to the airways), allowing gas exchanges.

    Here are a few anatomical plates about the chest. Click on the figures for a detailed view and nomenclature. You will see the ribs, the sternum, the scapula, the clavicle and the vertebral column.