From a completely disassembled model with one hand and foot attached by nylon cord, to Sam the Super Skeleton – fully assembled on a stand with a completely flexible vertebral column, marked muscle origins and insertion points, numbered bones and flexible ligaments – anatomical human skeletal models are ideal teaching tools.

The human skeletal system, with its 206 bones, is a marvel of nature, allowing the human body complete range of motion through 360 degrees on all planes. Not only does this assemblage of bone, ligament and muscle allow us to dance, run, jump and pivot, but the insides of bones contain a substance (marrow) that allows the body to manufacture new red blood cells. Bones also store important minerals, like calcium, which is important not only in maintaining bone strength and health but in converting electrical signals from the brain into electrochemical signals that drive the human nervous system and make activity possible at the most elemental level.

From the femur, the longest bone in the body, to the stirrup inside the ear, bones are the ‘framework' for life. Some parts of the human body, like the hand, are highly articulated, containing 26 bones joined by ligaments and muscles that allow us to do everything from build skyscrapers to perform the most intricate surgery. Humans, in fact, are the only members of the animal kingdom whose evolution has allowed the hand to rule the planet.

Without an understanding of the human skeleton, no one – from grade school student to medical resident – can fully comprehend the miracle of motion. This is why skeletal models are so vital. Disassembled models, from half skeletons (based on the sagittal plane) to full skeletons, allow students of all ages to study the particular formation of individual bones and their relationship to adjacent structures. Assembled models, on stands, range from a simple, skeletal model to more complex models showing muscles or ligaments at both origin and insertion point along one side of the sagittal plane. These latter models are ideal for sports medicine practitioners, and allow therapists to demonstrate how sprains, strains and injuries can affect immediate and future sports performance.

A plain skeleton on a stand is a useful tool for high school and secondary school human anatomy classes, and miniature models will provide a wealth of teaching entertainment for grade school teachers and students.

Flexible skeletal models, with spines that allow mimicry of any human posture, are ideal tools for osteopaths or orthopedic surgeons. These models, once placed in a position that demonstrates osteoporotic posture, for example, remain as configured, allowing doctors to show their patients how pathological postures arise and what can be done to correct them. In both standard and superior models, these models move through the entire range of skull and neck positions, and spinal nerve exits and vertebral arteries are shown as dorso-lateral disc prolapses between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae in the mid-back. Both models also have teeth, a tripartite skull, easily removable limbs, and the weight of the second model is almost identical to that of a human skeleton.

The paradigm, however, is a physiological skeleton which shows the full range of motion of the arms, for example, through abduction, adduction, anteversion and retroversion. This scientific model also allows for demonstration of the restricted movement of the iliosacral and sacrococcygeal joints in the lower spine. Fully flexible and made of unbreakable plastic, this functional skeletal model is ideal for all instructional situations where a complete comprehension of skeletal movement is essential.