Human leg in a straight line, which represents the mechanical longitudinal axis of the leg, the Mikulicz line. This line stretches from the hip joint (or more precisely the head of the femur), through the knee joint (the intercondylar eminence of the tibia), and down to the center of the ankle (the ankle mortise, the fork-like grip between the medial and lateral malleoli). In the tibial shaft, the mechanical and anatomical axes coincide, but in the femoral shaft they diverge 6°, resulting in the "femorotibial angle" of 174° in a leg with normal axial alignment. A leg is considered straight when, with
Tuberosity of the tibia Tuberosity of the tibia The tuberosity of the tibia or tibial tuberosity or tibial tubercle is a large oblong elevation on the proximal, anterior aspect of the tibia, just below where the anterior surfaces of the lateral and medial tibial condyles end. It gives attachment to the patellar ligament, which attaches to the patella from where the suprapatellar ligament forms the distal tendon of the quadriceps femoris muscles. The quadriceps muscles consist of the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. These quadriceps muscles are innervated by the femoral nerve. The tibial tuberosity thus forms the terminal part