human body
Enable an AI agent to recognise a human body as an embodied biological whole, assess its observed condition and determine which actions are appropriate given uncertainty, consent and clinical authority.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise a human body as an embodied biological whole, assess its observed condition and determine which actions are appropriate given uncertainty, consent and clinical authority.
The human body is the complete, integument-bounded anatomical organism of one Homo sapiens individual, comprising the cells, tissues, organs and organ systems whose coordinated structure and physiology constitute that individual's living or recently living physical whole.
It can be Associate bodily observations with the correct body and anatomical location.; Compare measurements with the body's documented baseline and an appropriate reference context.; Describe task-specific movement, sensory and self-care abilities with required assistance.; Identify missing observations or concerning changes for review by an appropriately qualified human.; Check body-specific permission, support and handling constraints before proposing examination, movement or intervention.; Track bodily responses following authorised care, activity or environmental change..
Distinguishing features
The referent is a human organism considered as a bodily whole, rather than an isolated organ, tissue culture or biological sample.
Recognition concerns physical continuity and anatomical organisation; a person's name, account or legal identity alone does not establish which body is being observed.
Amputation, anatomical variation or an integrated prosthesis does not by itself turn the referent into a different kind of entity.
A mannequin, anatomical diagram or digital body model represents bodily organisation but is not the biological body represented.
A declaration of death changes the body's condition and handling constraints; it does not make the referent a detached specimen, although ownership of the remains lifecycle needs clarification.
Scope
+ Whole-body identity, continuity and anatomical boundaries
+ Body composition, anatomical variation and integrated prostheses or implants
+ Physiological functioning and observed bodily condition
+ Development, ageing and changes in functional capacity
+ Bodily exposure, injury, intervention and support dependencies
+ Body-specific constraints on examination, handling and intervention
- Personal identity, beliefs, relationships and social roles owned by a person model
- Detailed anatomy and independent handling of isolated organs, tissues and specimens
- Disease classification, diagnostic criteria and treatment protocols
- Healthcare encounters, care plans and medical-record administration
- Independent design, maintenance and inventory of medical devices
- Legal adjudication of capacity, death, custody or ownership
Characteristics
- Associated person
- Reference to a person record; identification method and confidence; unknown permitted Connects observations and permissions to the intended individual without equating personhood with bodily measurements.
- Anatomical configuration
- Present, absent, altered or unassessed regions and structures; integrated devices identified separately Supports recognition and interpretation without assuming a standard anatomy.
- Body mass
- kg, with time, measurement method and relevant device or support contributions Supports assessment of change, physical handling and appropriately governed clinical calculations.
- Stature or recumbent length
- cm, with posture, method and measurement limitations Provides body-scale context for growth, equipment fit and comparison over time.
- Developmental context
- Recorded age or age estimate, relevant maturation observations and uncertainty Prevents interpretation of bodily measurements using an inappropriate developmental reference.
- Physiological observations
- Named quantity and appropriate unit, such as temperature in °C, pulse in beats/min or respiratory rate in breaths/min; each time-stamped Makes bodily state assessable while preserving the context needed to interpret each observation.
- Functional capacity
- Task-specific ability, assistance required, limiting symptoms and assessment context Distinguishes observable capability from assumptions based on anatomy or diagnostic labels.
- Bodily integrity
- Location and observed extent of wounds, tissue disruption or other alterations; unassessed permitted Identifies constraints on contact, movement and further assessment.
- Support dependence
- Device, substance or assistance relied upon; supported function; interruption constraints Prevents actions that inadvertently remove essential bodily support.
- Life-status determination
- Alive, death formally documented, or undetermined; source, authority and time required Separates observed signs from an authorised determination with consequences for handling.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 31 questions.
Bodily identity and anatomy Establishes which body is represented and how its physical organisation is described.
An agent must avoid mixing individuals, mistaking a part for the whole or imposing assumed anatomy.
Organism continuity
Connects observations to one bodily whole across time.
Body identification
Record the basis for associating an observation with this body and, where established, its associated person.
- What evidence identifies this body, and how was its association with a person established? provenance
- Does this record concern the bodily whole, a detached part or a representation of the body? boundary
Anatomical configuration
Describes actual body regions, variations and physical integrations.
Present and altered structures
Record relevant anatomy, laterality, alterations and integrated devices without treating an unobserved structure as absent.
- Which relevant structures are present, absent, altered or not assessed, and on which side? measurement
- Which implants or prostheses participate in bodily function, and which details belong in linked device models? boundary
Physiological condition Captures observed functioning, symptoms and support at a particular time.
A body's condition changes, and measurements cannot be interpreted reliably without observation context and support information.
Observed function
Records physiological observations and bodily experiences with their evidential limits.
Contextualised observations
Keep measured signs and reported symptoms distinguishable, time-stamped and tied to collection conditions.
- What signs or symptoms were measured, observed or reported, by whom and at what time? provenance
- What posture, activity, instrument, supplemental support or other conditions affect interpretation? measurement
Physiological support
Describes externally assisted bodily functions and the provenance of life-status determinations.
Support and life status
Record support dependencies separately from observations of function and formal determinations of death.
- Which bodily functions currently rely on equipment, supplied substances or direct assistance? definition
- What is the source, time and responsible authority for any recorded life-status determination? provenance
- What documented constraints apply before moving, disconnecting or changing that support? action
Development and capacity Places bodily size, change and practical abilities in individual developmental context.
Age, growth, pregnancy, ageing and acquired changes can alter appropriate interpretation and assistance needs.
Developmental trajectory
Captures relevant growth, maturation and reproductive context without inferring them from appearance.
Body change over time
Record longitudinal size and composition observations alongside established developmental or reproductive context.
- What age, maturation or pregnancy-related context is established, relevant and appropriate to record? provenance
- How have body mass, stature or other relevant measurements changed using comparable methods? measurement
Embodied capabilities
Describes what this body can do under specified conditions.
Task-specific function
Record movement, sensation, communication-related physical function and self-care performance as assessed abilities.
- Which specific tasks can the body perform, with what assistance, effort or limiting symptoms? measurement
- What positioning, equipment or assistance is documented as appropriate for the proposed activity? action
Integrity and exposure Describes bodily barriers, injuries and relevant contact with the surrounding environment.
Local damage and environmental exposure can constrain whole-body handling and require further assessment.
Tissue and barrier condition
Locates observed disruptions of skin, mucosa and other bodily structures.
Localised integrity observations
Describe wounds and other alterations by site, observed extent and assessment limitations without inventing a diagnosis.
- Where is the alteration, including laterality, and what extent or characteristics were actually observed? measurement
- Which regions or deeper structures remain unassessed? boundary
Environmental exchange
Records relevant thermal, mechanical, chemical and biological exposures.
Exposure history
Capture known exposure routes, timing and available quantity information while separating exposure from inferred harm.
- What contacted or entered the body, by which route, for how long and in what known quantity? measurement
- What evidence establishes the exposure and any subsequent bodily change? provenance
- What documented handling precautions or qualified assessment are required before further contact? action
Bodily intervention and permission Connects proposed physical actions with applicable permissions, competence and observed outcomes.
Physical access to a body does not establish permission or competence to examine, move or intervene upon it.
Action authority
Links body-specific actions to their authorisation and practical constraints.
Permitted bodily actions
Record the scope and source of permission or other applicable authority without treating consent as a biological property.
- What consent or other applicable authority covers this particular examination, movement or intervention? provenance
- What limits, withdrawal of permission, required qualifications or supervision constrain the proposed action? action
Intervention response
Tracks bodily changes associated in time with authorised interventions.
Bodily response follow-up
Link interventions to affected body regions and subsequent observations while keeping temporal association distinct from established causation.
- What intervention occurred, at which bodily site, when and under whose responsibility? provenance
- What changed afterwards relative to baseline, and what remains unmeasured or uncertain? measurement
- What documented monitoring or escalation instructions govern the next action? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Living (in-vivo) body
- Deceased body / cadaver
- Embryonic and fetal body
- Pediatric body (neonate through adolescent)
- Adult body
- Male body (typical male anatomy)
- Female body (typical female anatomy, including the pregnant state)
- Reference or standardised body (ICRP Reference Male/Female and anthropometric 50th-percentile models)
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Wikidata - Q23852 - Item 'human body'.
- Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA) - FMA:20344 - Class 'Human body'; the maximal anatomical structure of one human organism.
- MeSH - D018594 - Descriptor 'Human Body'.
- SNOMED CT - 38266002 - 'Entire body as a whole (body structure)'.
- UBERON - UBERON:0013702 - 'body proper'; whole-organism class is UBERON:0000468 (multicellular organism), which is broader than the human body.
- NCBI Taxonomy / NCBITaxon - 9606 - Identifies the species Homo sapiens, not the body as an anatomical whole; used when the body is typed by taxon.
- Terminologia Anatomica (TA2) - corpus humanum - Latin official term for the human body; numeric TA2 codes exist per part but the whole-body heading is this term.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Terminologia Anatomica 2 (TA2, 2019) - Federative International Programme for Anatomical Terminology (FIPAT), International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA).
- ICRP Publication 89 (2002) reference anatomical and physiological values, and ICRP Publications 110/143 computational phantoms - International Commission on Radiological Protection.
- ISO 7250-1 (body measurement definitions and landmarks) and related ISO 15535 (anthropometric databases) - International Organization for Standardization.
- WHO Child Growth Standards and related anthropometric references - World Health Organization.
- Human Tissue Act 2004, overseen by the Human Tissue Authority - United Kingdom.
- Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (2006) - Uniform Law Commission (United States); enacted with state variation.
- Declaration of Helsinki - World Medical Association (ethical rules for research on living human bodies).
- ICRP Publication 103 recommended dose limits for exposure of the living body - International Commission on Radiological Protection.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Clinical examination, imaging (whole-body CT/MRI/PET) and surgery on the living patient.
- Anatomical teaching by dissection, prosection and donated cadavers.
- Forensic identification, post-mortem examination and disaster-victim identification of intact or disrupted bodies.
- Anthropometry for clothing, vehicle interiors, PPE, furniture and workplace design.
- Radiation protection and nuclear-medicine dosimetry using reference bodies and computational phantoms.
- Organ and tissue donation from deceased (and some living) bodies under anatomical-gift and tissue laws.
- Sports science, occupational health, nutrition and growth monitoring using mass, stature and composition.
- Biometrics and security (face, iris, fingerprint, gait) that treat the living body as an identity surface.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Stature (standing height, adults) - 150-190 (most adult populations; sex- and population-specific means lie inside this band) - cm
- Body mass (adults) - 45-95 (typical non-obese adults; population tails extend well outside) - kg
- Body mass index - 18.5-24.9 (WHO 'normal' adult band; not a direct anatomical measure) - kg/m²
- Body surface area (Du Bois or equivalent) - 1.5-2.1 (typical adults) - m²
- Core body temperature (living) - 36.5-37.5 - °C
- Total body water fraction - 45-65 (higher in lean males and infants; lower in females and older adults) - % of body mass
- Whole-body adipose fraction (adults) - 10-35 (sex- and age-dependent; clinical cut-points differ) - % of body mass
- Chronological age of the organism - 0-100+ (fetal age recorded in gestational weeks) - a
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Death: irreversible loss of organismal function (cardiorespiratory or neurological criteria), after which the body becomes remains.
- Multi-organ failure, trauma, haemorrhage, burns, drowning and other whole-body insults that destroy coordinated physiology.
- Failure of thermoregulation (hypothermia, heat stroke) and of fluid/electrolyte or energy homeostasis.
- Decomposition, putrefaction, skeletonisation and scavenging of the deceased body, which destroy anatomical completeness and identification.
- Misidentification of a living person or of remains; commingling of parts after disaster or conflict.
- Unconsented retention or use of bodies or tissue (legal and ethical failure under tissue and anatomical-gift law).
- Ionising radiation, toxic exposure and infection, which harm the living body and can contaminate remains.
- Pathological change that unfits a donated body for anatomy teaching or transplantation (e.g. extensive sepsis, some prion disease).
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Official part-names follow IFAA Latin TA2 in some curricula and eponyms or local-language terms in others.
- Body-donation, dissection and display are tightly licensed in some jurisdictions (e.g. UK Human Tissue Authority) and differently or more loosely governed elsewhere.
- Funerary practice (burial, cremation, exposure, embalming) changes how quickly a deceased body remains anatomically intact.
- Anthropometric reference tables are population-specific; ICRP reference bodies historically tracked Western adult data and later pediatric/voxel phantoms were added to reduce that bias.
- Legal tests of death (cardiorespiratory vs brain-death statutes) and of who may donate a body differ by country and US state.
- Clinical and sporting sex classification of bodies is not uniform and is contested where anatomy, chromosomes and legal sex diverge.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Person / legal subject - Legal personality is a status (rights, duties, capacity), not an anatomical whole; a corpse is a body and is not a person under ordinary civil law.
- Organ or body part - A part lacks the maximal anatomical completeness of one organism; the body is the integument-bounded whole from which parts are taken.
- Human remains (fragmentary) - Remains may be incomplete, commingled or reduced to bone; an intact body still presents a recognisable anatomical inventory of one individual.
- Anatomical model, manikin or medical phantom - Physical teaching or imaging stand-ins lack living tissue and organismal physiology; they are artefacts scaled to the body, not bodies.
- Computational / voxel phantom - A numerical mesh or voxel dataset (e.g. ICRP adult reference phantoms) represents a body for calculation; it is not a physical organism.
- Non-human animal body - Taxonomic identity: Homo sapiens (NCBITaxon:9606) versus another species, confirmed by anatomy, genetics or documented provenance.
- Living patient versus cadaver - Separated by legal death criteria (irreversible cessation of circulation or of brain function, as the jurisdiction defines); vital signs and consent regimes then diverge.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of human body this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Sources
- Terminologia Anatomica, 2nd edition (TA2) - Official international anatomical nomenclature for the human body and its parts, issued by FIPAT/IFAA.
- ICRP Publication 89: Basic Anatomical and Physiological Data for Use in Radiological Protection - Reference Values - Reference male/female organ masses, composition and physiological values used as the standardised human body in radiation protection.
- ISO 7250-1, Basic human body measurements for technological design - Part 1: Body measurement definitions and landmarks - Standardised anthropometric landmarks and measurement definitions for the living human body in product and workplace design.
- Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA) - Canonical anatomical ontology in which the human body is a named maximal anatomical structure with a stable FMA identifier.
- Human Tissue Act 2004 - UK statute governing consent, storage and use of bodies, body parts and tissue from the deceased (and some uses from the living).
- Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice - Standard clinical-anatomical description of the living human body as organ systems in situ.
- Wikidata item Q23852 (human body) - Stable public identifier and cross-links for the concept 'human body'.
- WHO Child Growth Standards - Population reference distributions for length/height, mass and derived indices of the developing human body.
- Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (2006) - United States uniform law on donation of the body or parts after death.
- ICRP Publication 110: Adult Reference Computational Phantoms - Voxelised reference male and female bodies used as numerical stand-ins for the human body in dosimetry.
What the second pass must settle
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own the human organism or human body concept, requiring this registry entry to link to it?
- Where should lifecycle ownership transfer, if at all, between this model and models of human remains, particularly after decomposition or anatomical separation?
- How should pregnancy and conjoined anatomy represent relationships between bodily wholes without assuming that anatomical connectedness determines organism identity?
- Which anatomical vocabularies, observation standards and developmental references should be adopted, and how should their population and measurement limitations be recorded?
- Which neighbouring model owns consent, decision-making authority and jurisdiction-specific determinations, and what minimum references must this body model retain?