Specimen Image
Rectus femoris
Unlike the vastus muscles, which cross only the knee joint, the rectus femoris muscle crosses both the hip and the knee joints .
The rectus femoris has two tendinous heads of origin from the pelvic bone:
- one from the anterior inferior iliac spine ( straight head ), and
- the other from a roughened area of the ilium immediately superior to the acetabulum ( reflected head ).
The two heads of the rectus femoris unite to form an elongate muscle belly, which lies anterior to the vastus intermedius muscle and between the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis muscles, to which it is attached on either side. At the distal end, the rectus femoris muscle converges on the quadriceps femoris tendon and inserts on the base of the patella.
Rack Number
Specimen Number
44