Gloves and Leggings

Gloves and leggings that students can wear to get a personalized feel for the dermatomes and peripheral nerve innervation of the skin of the limbs. Markings and colourings are based on Grays Anatomy for Students, 3rd Edition. The garments are one-size-fits-most and, because they are very stretchy in all directions, the markings tend to fall in the correct anatomical position for most people. Refer to Grays if in any doubt.

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Production Information

Gloves - purchased polycotton long gloves were painted with heat-set inks. The inks were thinned down a little to make them easier to brush on. A hairdryer was useful to dry the inks and prevent smudges between colours. The final heat-set was carried out over several days in a 40 degree C oven.

Leggings were sewn up from several colours of nylon lycra/elastane. Nylon lycra/elastane is usually easy to obtain in a wide range of colours from dancewear suppliers and is very stretchy in all directions. A suitable stretchy machine stitch should be used when sewing up so that the seams don’t rip when the garments are pulled on. An elastic waistband is sewn into the top edge of the leggings.

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Plans for one-size-fits-most leggings (background grid is 100mm x 100mm):

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Pattern pieces (background grid is 100mm x 100mm):

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Note: flip the pattern pieces over for the leg opposite the one illustrated.

Upper limb areas and painting colours:

Dermatomes	C5	Yellow, light
Dermatomes	C6	Yellow, middle
Dermatomes	C7	Yellow, dark
Dermatomes	C8	Yellow, darkest
Dermatomes	T1	Blue, light
Dermatomes	T2	Blue, middle
Peripheral nerves	Axillary nerve (superior lateral cutaneous nerve of arm)	Green, middle
Peripheral nerves	Radial nerve (inferior lateral and posterior cutaneous nerves of arm and posterior cutaneous nerve of forearm)	Red
Peripheral nerves	Musculocutaneous nerve (lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm)e	Purple
Peripheral nerves	Ulnar nerve	Blue, dark
Peripheral nerves	Median nerve	Orange
Peripheral nerves	Radial nerve (superficial branch)	Pink

Lower limb pattern pieces and fabric colours:

Dermatomes	L1	Green, lightest
Dermatomes	L2	Green, light
Dermatomes	L3	Green, middle
Dermatomes	L4	Green, dark
Dermatomes	L5	Green, darkest
Dermatomes	S1	Purple, light
Dermatomes	S2	Purple, middle
Dermatomes	S3	Purple, dark
Dermatomes	S4	Purple, darkest
Peripheral nerves	Posterior rami (L1 to L3)	Red
Peripheral nerves	Posterior rami (S1 to S3)	Yellow, dark
Peripheral nerves	Lateral cutaneous nerve of thigh (from lumbar plexus)	Red
Peripheral nerves	Obturator nerve	Orange
Peripheral nerves	Posterior cutaneous nerve of thigh (from sacral plexus)	Green, dark
Peripheral nerves	Femoral nerve (anterior cutaneous nerves of thigh)	Yellow, dark
Peripheral nerves	Common fibular nerve (lateral cutaneous nerve of calf)	Blue, light
Peripheral nerves	Femoral nerve (saphenous nerve)	Yellow, light
Peripheral nerves	Common fibular nerve (superficial branch)	Blue, dark
Peripheral nerves	Tibial nerve (sural nerve)	Purple, light
Peripheral nerves	Common fibular nerve (deep branch)	Blue, light
Peripheral nerves	Lateral plantar nerve	Red
Peripheral nerves	Medial plantar nerve	Orange
Peripheral nerves	Tibial nerve (medial calcaneal branches)	Purple, dark
Peripheral nerves	Other nerves	Beige

Creators: Dr Latika Samalia (initial idea and academic support), Fieke Neuman (painting, patterns and sewing), Tim Moser (labelled keys). All from Department of Anatomy, University of Otago.

Keywords: Teaching, Anatomy, Medicine, Arm, Leg, Sensation, Science, Biology

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