Popliteus
Follow its femoral and tibial attachments, read about knee unlocking, and inspect the existing 3D selection.
Read the anatomy guide →Human anatomy · Left side
Left knee
Explore knee bones and popliteus in 3D. Compare the patella, femur and tibia, with guided views and explicit missing-tissue notes.
Atlas notePartial educational model, not a complete dissection. Original whole meshes are retained; close-ups may leave long bones outside the frame. Cartilage, separate ligaments, nerves and vessels are absent. Anatomical review pending.
LEFT KNEE · REGIONAL STUDYBodyParts3D / 4.0
Choose a step to select a structure and set the view. Some steps isolate it. Read the step-by-step guide →
SELECTED · LEFT SIDE
Left patella
Open structure page →Anatomioanatomio.org ↗3D: BodyParts3D / DBCLS · CC BY 4.0
Loading the anatomical subset…
Gold = selected structure Click to select · double-click / double-tap to open
Drag to rotate · pinch or scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate · pinch or scroll to zoom
Loading the anatomical subset…
Interactive study: Anatomio. Original geometry: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science licensed under CC Attribution 4.0 International. Sources & changes · Model provenance
Read the anatomy · Left knee
Behind the knee. Start with popliteus.
Connect this regional view with a focused muscle guide, then compare the deep posterior leg. Sources checked; specialist anatomical review pending.
Deep posterior leg
Compare tibialis posterior and the two long toe flexors. Their regional close-up does not contain the femur or foot bones.
Explore the three guides →Understand the region · Left side
Separate the kneecap from the joint surfaces
Two relationships to inspect
At the knee, the femur meets the tibia and also articulates with the patella in front. The patella does not articulate with the tibia.
OpenStax · Selected synovial joints ↗What a static view cannot explain
Menisci and ligaments contribute to the living knee. Flexion involves rolling and sliding, not a single fixed pivot that can be inferred from these bone meshes.
OpenStax · Selected synovial joints ↗Try it in 3D
Open Guided study · 3 steps above the model. Each button selects the matching structure on this side and sets a useful view. Isolated steps hide the other structures; Show context restores this region.
- Find the kneecap
Highlight the patella in the front view. Keep the other bones visible to see its placement.
Open Left patella → - Compare the tibia
Switch to an oblique view with the tibia highlighted. Inspect its upper end beneath the femur without mistaking the bare surfaces for cartilage.
Open Left tibia → - Inspect behind the knee
Isolate popliteus in the back view. Show context returns to the same knee study.
Open Left popliteus →
Anatomical facts checked against the linked references on . Specialist review pending. Instructions describe this Anatomio viewer, not the source textbook.
Structures in this study
4 bones and 1 selected muscle parts. Show context restores this regional subset. Use Front, Back or Oblique to return to its initial framing.
Return to the whole left leg →