Vastus medialis is the most medial muscle in the quadriceps femoris group, hence its name.

The patellar tendon inserts onto the base of the patella.

The rectus femoris tendon converges with the quadriceps femoris tendon to form the patellar tendon.

The two heads converge to form a common muscle.

Rectus femoris has two heads of origin, one from the anterior inferior iliac spine (straight head) and the other from the ilium immediately superior to the acetabulum (reflected head).

This muscle group works to extend the leg at the knee, as well as stabilising the patella during knee movement. These muscles are rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius and vastus lateralis.

Quadriceps femoris is a muscle group comprised of four individual muscles which make up the bulk of the anterior compartment of the thigh. Posterior abdominal wall: in the iliac fossa.This common tendon inserts onto the lesser trochanter of the femur. From their point of origin, they descend and pass laterally to the inguinal ligament into the upper aspect of the anterior compartment of the thigh, where they converge into a common tendon. These both originate as separate muscles on the posterior abdominal wall. The iliopsoas is made up of the psoas major and iliacus muscles.

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Thigh compartments