Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Fibrous joint
Summary
In anatomy, fibrous joints are joints connected by fibrous tissue, consisting mainly of collagen. These are fixed joints where bones are united by a layer of white fibrous tissue of varying thickness. In the skull the joints between the bones are called sutures. Such immovable joints are also referred to as synarthroses.
Most fibrous joints are also called "fixed" or "immovable". These joints have no joint cavity and are connected via fibrous connective tissue.
Sutures: The skull bones are connected by fibrous joints called sutures. In fetal skulls the sutures are wide to allow slight movement during birth. They later become rigid (synarthrodial).
Syndesmosis: Some of the long bones in the body such as the radius and ulna in the forearm are joined by a syndesmosis (along the interosseous membrane). Syndemoses are slightly moveable (amphiarthrodial). The distal tibiofibular joint is another example.
A gomphosis is a joint between the root of a tooth and the socket in the maxilla or mandible (jawbones).
A suture is a type of fibrous joint that is only found in the skull (cranial suture). The bones are bound together by Sharpey's fibres. A tiny amount of movement is permitted at sutures, which contributes to the compliance and elasticity of the skull.
These joints are synarthroses. It is normal for many of the bones of the skull to remain unfused at birth. The fusion of the skull's bones before birth is known as craniosynostosis. The term "fontanelle" is used to describe the resulting "soft spots". The relative positions of the bones continue to change during the life of the adult (though less rapidly), which can provide useful information in forensics and archaeology. In old age, cranial sutures may ossify (turn to bone) completely.
The joints between the teeth and jaws (gomphoses) and the joint between the mandible and the cranium, the temporomandibular joint, form the only non-sutured joints in the skull.
Serrate sutures – similar to a denticulate suture but the interlocking regions are serrated rather than square.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related lectures (6)
Muscular System: Pelvis and Perineum
Discusses the muscular system of the pelvis and perineum.
Biomechanics Modeling: Musculoskeletal System
Explores biomechanical modeling of the musculoskeletal system using differential equations and finite element modeling.
Human Anatomy: Skeletal System
Explores the human skeletal system and joint classification.
Related publications (8)
Related concepts (1)
Skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium (: craniums or crania) and the mandible. In humans, these two parts are the neurocranium and the viscerocranium (facial skeleton) that includes the mandible as its largest bone. The skull forms the anterior-most portion of the skeleton and is a product of cephalisation—housing the brain, and several sensory structures such as the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.