1. Cooper's Ligament: a strong ligamentous band extending upward and backward from the base of Gimbernat's ligament along the iliopectineal line to which it is attached -- called also ligament of Cooper.
3. Pectoralis minor: a smaller chest muscle that lies beneath the larger, arises from the third, fourth, and fifth ribs, and is inserted by a flat tendon into the coracoid process of the scapula.
4. Connective tissue: a tissue of mesodermal origin rich in intercellular substance or interlacing processes with little tendency for the cells to come together in sheets or masses ;
5. Specifically : connective tissue of stellate or spindle-shaped cells with interlacing processes that pervades, supports, and binds together other tissues and forms ligaments and tendons.
6. Blood vessels: any of the vessels through which blood circulates in the body.
7. Ribs: any of the paired curved bony or partly cartilaginous rods that stiffen the lateral walls of the body of most vertebrates and protect the viscera, that occur in mammals exclusively or almost exclusively in the thoracic region, and that in humans normally include 12 pairs of which all are articulated with the spinal column at the dorsal end and the first 10 are connected also at the ventral end with the sternum by costal cartilages.
8. Subcutaneous fat: fat cells being, living, used, or made under the skin.
9. Infra-mammary crease: infra- meaning below, mammary meaning breast. The fold or crease under the breast where the breast lobe meets the torso.
10. Breast fat: fatty tissue found above the glandular tissue of the breast. The breast is mostly made up of lobules, milk ducts, fat, and glandular tissue.
11. Ducts: a bodily tube or vessel especially when carrying the secretion of a gland, specifically breast milk. esp. lactiferous ducts, milk ducts
12. Glandular tissue: of, relating to, or involving glands, gland cells, or their products; specifically breast milk production. esp. lobules
13. Nipple: the protuberance of a mammary gland upon which in the female the lactiferous ducts open and from which milk is drawn
14. Lobules: The glandular part of the breast where milk is produced
breast envelope: the skin which surrounds the structure of the breast.
The breast is a mass of glandular, fatty, and fibrous tissues positioned over the pectoral muscles of the chest wall and attached to the chest wall by fibrous strands called Cooper’s ligaments. A layer of fatty tissue surrounds the breast glands and extends throughout the breast. The fatty tissue gives the breast a soft consistency.
The glandular tissues of the breast house the lobules (milk producing glands at the ends of the lobes) and the ducts (milk passages). Toward the nipple, each duct widens to form a sac (ampulla). During lactation, the bulbs on the ends of the lobules produce milk. Once milk is produced, it is transferred through the ducts to the nipple.
The breast is composed of:
* milk glands (lobules) that produce milk
* ducts that transport milk from the milk glands (lobules) to the nipple
* nipple
* areola (pink or brown pigmented region surrounding the nipple)
* connective (fibrous) tissue that surrounds the lobules and ducts
* fat
