<P> The blood supply is important for planning free tissue transfer because the fibula is commonly used to reconstruct the mandible . The shaft is supplied in its middle third by a large nutrient vessel from the fibular artery . It is also perfused from its periosteum which receives many small branches from the fibular artery . The proximal head and the epiphysis are supplied by a branch of the anterior tibial artery . In harvesting the bone the middle third is always taken and the ends preserved (4 cm proximally and 6 cm distally) </P> <P> The fibula is ossified from three centers, one for the shaft, and one for either end . Ossification begins in the body about the eighth week of fetal life, and extends toward the extremities . At birth the ends are cartilaginous . </P> <P> Ossification commences in the lower end in the second year, and in the upper about the fourth year . The lower epiphysis, the first to ossify, unites with the body about the twentieth year; the upper epiphysis joins about the twenty - fifth year . </P> <P> The upper extremity or head of the fibula is of an irregular quadrate form, presenting above a flattened articular surface, directed upward, forward, and medialward, for articulation with a corresponding surface on the lateral condyle of the tibia . On the lateral side is a thick and rough prominence continued behind into a pointed eminence, the apex (styloid process), which projects upward from the posterior part of the head . </P>

Meaning of calf in human body in hindi