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Middle genicular artery: anatomy, location and function

A branch of the popliteal artery supplying the inside of the knee joint. It supplies the cruciate ligaments, synovial membrane and menisci.

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Highlighted in the model: Middle genicular artery. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Middle genicular artery at a glance

What it is
A branch of the popliteal artery supplying the inside of the knee joint.
Location
It arises from the popliteal artery at the level of the knee and pierces the oblique popliteal ligament to enter the joint.
Function
It supplies the cruciate ligaments, synovial membrane and menisci.
Body system
Cardiovascular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA22563 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Structures next to the middle genicular artery

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Middle genicular artery (FMA22563). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.