JSChoi.org

Proposal for body-part emoji:
Neck, chest, abdomen, back, thyroid, stomach, intestine, liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterus, prostate, breast, muscle, skin, and antibody

J. S. Choi, MD
Created on 2020-07-22 • Updated on
Text and images licensed under CC BY 4.0

Proposed neck emoji: An anterior view of a gender-neutral human neck with raised chin, colored with unrealistic yellow skin tone.Proposed chest emoji: An anterior view of a gender-neutral human chest with shoulders, clavicles, sternum, and pectoralis major muscles, colored iwth unrealistic yellow skin tone.Proposed abdomen emoji: An anterior view of a gender-neutral human abdomen with umbilicus, flanks, waist, and hips, colored with unrealistic yellow skin tone.Proposed back emoji: An anterior view of a gender-neutral human abdomen with spine, trapezius muscle, latissimus dorsi muscles, shoulders, waist, and hips, colored with unrealistic yellow skin tone.Proposed thyroid emoji: An anterior view of the human thyroid gland’s two lobes and isthmus, colored pink.Proposed stomach emoji: An anterior view of the human stomach, distal esophagus, and proximal duodenum, colored pink.Proposed intestine emoji: An anterior view of the human small intestine, colon, and rectum, colored pink and dark brown.Proposed liver emoji: An anterior view of the human liver, gallbladder, and biliary ducts, colored dark brown and green.Proposed pancreas emoji: An anterior view of the human pancreas, colored yellow-pink.Proposed kidney emoji: An anterior view of the left human kidney, proximal ureter, and adrenal gland, colored dark red, pale red, and yellow.Proposed bladder emoji: An anterior cross-sectional view of the human urinary bladder, partially filled with urine, as well as the proximal urethra and two distal ureters, colored pale red and pale yellow.Proposed uterus emoji: An anterior cross-sectional view of the human uterus, Fallopian tubes, vagina, and ovaries, colored pale red and white.Proposed prostate emoji: An anterior view of the human prostate gland, with two human testes, two epididymes, two vasa deferentia, two seminal vesicles, and cross-section of penis, colored white, red, and purple.Proposed breast emoji: A lateral cross-sectional view of the human breast and mammary glands, facing left, colored yellow and red.Proposed muscle emoji: An idealized linear, one-headed skeletal muscle, with two tendons extending from its two ends, bulging at its longitudinal center, colored deep red and white.Proposed skin emoji: A cross-sectional view of idealized human skin, showing epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous fat, hair, and hair follicle, with unrealistic yellow skin tone.Proposed antibody emoji: A cartoon monomeric antibody, facing toward the upper left.
Emoji Keywords Category Location
neck

neck, cervical, throat, pharynx, pharyngeal, larynx, laryngeal, vocal, carotid, jugular, swallow, choke, choking, voice

body-parts after 🦶
chest

chest, thorax, thoracic, pectoral, pecs, rib, ribcage, thymus, armpit

″ ″
abdomen

abdomen, abdominal, belly, pelvis, pelvic, navel, umbilical, pubis, pubic, spleen, splenic, flank, abs

″ ″
back

back, lumbar, spine, spinal, vertebra, flank, scapula, trapezius, lats, butt

″ ″
thyroid

thyroid, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, parathyroid, hyperparathyroidism, hypoparathyroidism, endocrinology, endocrinologist

″ after lungs
stomach

stomach, gastric, esophagus, esophageal, gut, hunger, hungry, digest, indigestion, heartburn, endoscopy, acid, reflux, gastroenterology, nausea, vomit

″ ″
intestine

intestine, intestinal, enteric, colon, rectum, rectal, anus, anal, gut, bowel, digest, indigestion, feces, fecal, poo, fiber, hemorrhoid, endoscopy, colonoscopy, gastroenterology, incontinence

″ ″
liver

liver, hepatic, biliary, gallbladder, bile, abdomen, abdominal, hepatology, gallstone, cirrhosis, alcohol

″ ″
pancreas

pancreas, pancreatic, abdomen, abdominal, sugar, glucose, insulin, diabetes, endocrinology, endocrinologist

″ ″
kidney

kidney, renal, ureter, dialysis, nephrology, nephrologist, urine, urinary, adrenal

″ ″
bladder

bladder, urethra, urine, urinary, pee, incontinence, UTI, urology, urologist

″ ″
uterus

uterus, uterine, womb, cervix, cervical, ovary, ovarian, Fallopian, vagina, placenta, pregnancy, menstruation, menstrual, period, estrogen, gynecology, gynecologist

″ ″
prostate

prostate, prostatic, testicle, testicular, semen, seminal, scrotum, scrotal, penis, penile, urology, urologist

″ ″
breast

breast, mammary, nipple, mammogram, mammography, gynecologist, gynecology

″ ″
muscle

muscle, muscular, tendon, tendinitis, protein, rehab, exercise, rheumatology, rheumatologist

″ after 🦴
skin

skin, hair, fat, adipose, nail, itching, rash, hives, boil, mole, dermatology, dermatologist

″ ″
antibody

antibody, receptor, immune, immunity, allergy, allergic, white blood cell, lymph, leukemia, spleen, thymus, thymic, thymoma, rheumatology, rheumatologist, immunology, immunologist, allergist

science after 🧬

Introduction

As of the time of this writing, the Unicode Consortium has encoded pictographs of several specific human body parts as emoji characters in its Unicode Standard. Emoji characters are colorful cartoon pictographs that are used inline in text, and which are extensively used in social media and personal messaging to add flavor, color, and emotion. As of 2020, body parts that have already been encoded include:

External features
leg
foot
arm
hand
ear
nose
mouth
eyes
facial hair, scalp, and scalp hair
Internal organs
brain
tongue
skull
tooth
bone
blood
anatomical heart
lungs

The Consortium originally encoded body-part emoji characters in the Unicode Standard 6.0 (✋, 👀, 👂, 👃, 👄, 👅, 💀, and 💪) in order to improve text compatibility between internationalized computer software and several already-existing Japanese mobile-phone text standards that included those emoji characters [L2/09-026]. Another such character (👁️) was encoded to improve compatibility with the Wingdings character set [L2/11-149].

Subsequently, an explosion of emoji characters has occurred, and the Consortium’s Emoji Subcommittee established a formal process for the general public to request new emoji characters, guided by several emoji selection factors. It was in this process that pictographs of several new human body parts (🧔, 🧠, 🦰, 🦱, 🦲, 🦴, 🦵, 🦶, 🦷, 🩸, anatomical heart, and lungs) have been encoded in eight independent proposals published between 2016 and 2019 [L2/16-260, L2/16-299, L2/17-011, L2/17-246, L2/17-259, L2/18-092, L2/19-149, L2/19-150.

Members of the Unicode Consortium have already remarked on this gradual tendency to encode human body parts. For instance, Andrew West has noted, “As there seems to be a move towards encoding emoji for all important human organs (we already have eye, ear, nose, mouth and tongue), I wonder whether the [Unicode Consortium] can any longer justify not encoding emoji for human sexual organs?” [L2/19-273].

It is indeed reasonable to expect that additional body parts will gradually continue to be proposed by independent authors. The set of human body parts is closed, yet there still remain numerous body parts that have not yet been encoded in the Standard. Numerous stakeholders would benefit from their encoding in the same way that numerous stakeholders have benefited from the encoding of the prior body-part emoji characters. Emoji characters, for instance, have been useful for patients with cancer when reporting symptoms to their physicians [FK-19], when expressing themselves on social media about their personal medical problems, or when discussing awareness of medical conditions; there is even research applying text mining to social-media emoji to monitor symptoms in populations of people who do not seek healthcare advice directly [EOO-19].

The current ad-hoc approach, with its many independent proposals submitted over a long period of time, has benefits in that it spreads the work of further body-part encoding over time, deferring it to the future, and mitigating decision paralysis in committee. A body part is implicitly presumed to not be useful enough to encode until a proposal is formally made for it.

However, continuing the current ad-hoc approach also risks introducing further inconsistency to the Standard. An example of inconsistency may be seen in hair-related emoji. Several types of scalp hair (🦰, 🦱, 🦲) may be represented in isolation as well as combined with person emoji (🧑‍🦰, 🧑‍🦱, 🧑‍🦲). However, beard was separately encoded as 🧔; there is no corresponding way to represent facial hair in isolation. (There is also person with blond hair, originally proposed for software compatibility with the Japanese mobile-phone text standards as “Western person” [L2/09-026]—there is similarly no corresponding way to represent blond hair in isolation.) Future inconsistency in other body parts might similarly occur if the current ad-hoc approach to encoding them continues, rather than approaching the entire body systematically.

Furthermore, major technology vendors, without whose support encoding emoji characters would not be useful, have limited resources with which they may create and deploy new emoji assets; they have a limited annual emoji budget [UCES-19-EEP], which recently has been further tightened [L2/20-132]. Within this constrained situation, it is important to note that body parts are closely related to one another.

Encoding an emoji character for one body part may make encoding a character for other body parts less likely. For instance, the encoding of a character representing the brain makes encoding characters for the pituitary gland, pineal gland, and other adjacent organs less likely because they may reasonably be viewed as representable by 🧠. Similarly, the encoding of flexed biceps makes the encoding of a shoulder emoji character less likely, since the shoulder may be reasonably viewed as representable by 💪, which has come to represent arms in general. This deep fundamental interdependency between body parts makes it all the more important for the Emoji Subcommittee to formally consider body parts all at one time in a systematic fashion.

Furthermore, the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected numerous people internationally, appears to affect numerous systems of the human body—not only the lungs, heart, or brain—and may cause numerous chronic multifocal symptoms that last long after the acute disease occurs [ODJ-20]. The current repertoire of emoji characters is inadequate for expressing these pandemic-associated symptoms, but the multisystem nature of the disease makes a comprehensive all the more important to affected people.

Lastly, the Emoji Subcommittee initiated in 2019 a general “North Star” strategy, in which emoji characters are considered “in a less piecemeal way”—instead, each new release of Unicode Emoji is considered as “a set with certain kinds of consistency that we identify each year with an eye on long term sustainability” [L2/20-132].

Given the deep interrelatedness of body parts, the multifocal nature of disease in general (but especially COVID-19), and the new North Star strategy of the Emoji Subcommittee, is therefore proposed that the Subcommittee should systematize the approach to which it encodes the remaining human body parts. It should formalize which body parts should be encoded, why, what they should be named, and which parts may be represented by other, more-“generic” parts. The Committee should discuss and address these questions, for all body parts, prospectively and all at one time, rather than retrospectively and ad hoc.

This does not entail encoding all at once characters for remaining human body parts—the Consortium may encode the characters in small amounts for each new version of the Standard. Instead, the proposal entails a holistic discussion and consideration of the entire human body regarding which of its remaining body parts are most appropriate to encode, before choosing which additional body parts to encode first.

Such a systematic approach has resulted in the seventeen proposed emoji characters described in this proposal: neckchestabdomenbackthyroidstomachintestineliverpancreaskidneybladderuterusprostatebreastmuscleskinantibody. Each has been carefully considered for the Emoji Subcommittee’s emoji selection factors, including expected frequency of use, redundancy, versatility, distinctiveness, completeness, generality, and suitability for encoding [UCES-20-SEP]. Each is globally relevant, communicative, recognizable, and useful; each has above-median expected frequency of use.

It is hoped that this proposal may serve as a template for an ongoing discussion regarding the parts of the human body, in which the entire body is completely considered. With the ongoing, pandemic multisystem disease, the time for a comprehensive biomedical approach to body emoji characters has never been as important as now.

Compatibility

The proposed characters are not intended to improve compatibility with existing software systems. They are primarily proposed based on their individually large expected frequencies of use.

Frequency:
Web resources

From the Emoji Subcommittee’s perspective, the most important factor for emoji inclusion is expected frequency of use [UCES-20-SEP]. All proposed emoji characters are expected to have above-median international use. They all depict and represent multiple structures, symptoms, and conditions that are universal to the human condition (see § Multiple Usages).

Web search results for concepts represented by proposed emoji characters are each comparable in size to those for concepts represented by two already-encoded emoji characters with median frequency of usage 👺🐘 [UCES-19-F] and two recently encoded body-part emoji characters anatomical heartlungs. In some cases, search-result counts for proposed emoji exceed these already-encoded characters by several orders of magnitude; in other cases, they are comparable in order of magnitude.

It should be noted that web search results only demonstrate how many web resources (webpages, images, videos) have been publicly published on the web. Concepts represented by several proposed characters, such as thyroidbladderuterus, have relatively few published web resources compared to that of 🐘, but they appear to have relatively more search queries (see § Google Trends). In addition, counting either published web resources or web search queries may underestimate future frequency of use when compared to the large prevalence of represented medical conditions (see § Stakeholders).

Emoji Google Bing Google Video Query
goblin 93 M 43 M 24 M

goblin
elephant 759 M N/A 101 M

elephant
anatomical heart 218 M 135 M 29 M

heart-failure OR heart-attack OR heart-murmur OR heart-valve OR myocardial OR endocarditis OR cardiology

lung 378 M 148 M 74 M

lung OR pneumonia OR respiratory-failure OR hypoxia

neck 3,780 M 556 M 1,090 M

neck OR jugular OR carotid OR laryngeal OR throat

chest 951 M 115 M 536 M

chest OR rib OR thorax

abdomen 1,230 M 259 M 411 M

abdomen OR abdominal OR belly OR pelvis OR pelvic

back 461 M 160 M 235 M

back-pain OR low-back OR lower-back OR upper-back OR spinal OR hips OR buttocks OR gluteal

thyroid 120 M 72 M 9 M

thyroid OR thyroid-cancer OR thyroid-storm OR hypothyroidism OR hyperthyroidism OR parathyroid OR hyperparathyroidism

stomach 515 M 153 M 231 M

stomach OR gastric OR acid-reflux

intestine 1,910 M 1,570 M 950 M

intestine OR enteritis OR colon OR rectal OR anal

liver 677 M 379 M 191 M

liver OR cirrhosis OR hepatitis OR bile

pancreas 534 M 286 M 128 M

pancreas OR diabetes OR insulin
kidney 425 M 232 M 53 M

kidney OR renal OR nephron OR nephritic OR adrenal OR dialysis

bladder 294 M 426 M 44 M

bladder OR urine OR UTI OR urology
uterus 126 M 80 M 12 M

uterus OR menstruation OR ovarian OR fibroid

prostate 498 M 334 M 335 M

prostate OR testes OR penis
breast 395 M 121 M 182 M

breast OR mammary
muscle 2,040 M 161 M 1,090 M

muscle
skin 11,580 M 2,20 M 4,500 M

skin OR hair OR fat OR adipose OR dermatology

antibody 842 M 334 M 227 M

immune OR antibody OR antigen OR allergy OR immunology OR white-blood-cell OR leukemia OR lymph OR vaccine

Frequency:
Stakeholder populations

For each proposed emoji character, there is a myriad of conditions, symptoms, syndromes, disorders, and diseases that it may represent. Many of these conditions impacts millions or billions of people, and their corresponding proposed emoji character would aid in communication by such people.

The following statistics show a sample of the vast morbidity associated with each body part. They generally underestimate the potential usage of their respective character: they refer to the prevalence or incidence of people who personally have their respective condition, and they exclude family, friends, care providers, and other people who are indirectly impacted by the condition. Furthermore, several statistics are generalizable outside of their local populations to similar worldwide demographics. All statistics are necessarily approximate, with limitations specific to each study.

Emoji Condition Population Citation
neck Neck pain ≥ 30%

of people on Earth per year

 CSP-15
Cervical radiculopathy 170 k

new cases in a US city per year

 RK-94
Neck injury 881 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Neck sprain / strain 720 k

″

 ″
Throat symptoms 28 k

″

 ″
Pharyngeal cancer 18 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
chest Noncardiac chest pain 13%

of adults in multiple countries

 FAC-11
Thoracic injury 954 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
≤ 35%

involvement (blunt thoracic trauma) out of…

 MJW-07
≥ 10 k

deaths in US due to trauma in general per year

 NCHS-17-AUI
abdomen Abdominal pain, cramps and spasms 12,248 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Abdominal trauma 20,000 k

children injured per year, within which…

 DS-17
10–15%

of children who visit hospitals with trauma have abdominal trauma

GAB-09
Abdominal hernia 290 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
back Low back pain 23%

of people on Earth per month

HD-12
14%

of adults in US at least once during lifetime (for pain lasting ≥ 2 wk)

DRA-87
84%

of adults in a Canadian providence at least once during lifetime

CJD-98
Back sprain / strain 768 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Spinal-cord injury 18 k

new cases in US per year

 NSCISC-94
thyroid Hypothyroidism 4.6%

of people in US during –

HGJ-02
21.8%

of people in Tibet during –

NP-20
Thyroid cancer 163 k

new female cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
Emoji Condition Population Citation
stomach Gastroesophageal reflux disease 10–20%

of people in Western countries

HD-05
≥ 258 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Gastritis 437 k

″

 ″
Stomach cancer 1,154 k

new cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
Esophageal cancer 18 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
intestine Diarrhea 4,500,000 k episodes on Earth during GBD-16-DD
1,600 k deaths on Earth during ″
Enteritis and colitis ≥ 1,000 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Constipation 934 k

″

 ″
Intestinal diverticulosis 270 k

″

 ″
Anorectal disease 418 k

″

 ″
Colorectal cancer 1,234 k

new cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
liver Viral hepatitis 2,300,000 k

people on Earth

 JM-18
Alcoholic cirrhosis 493 k

deaths on Earth during

RJ-13
Liver cancer 748 k

new cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
Gallbladder and biliary disorders 528 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Gallbladder or biliary cancer 12 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
pancreas Diabetes mellitus 8.5%

of adults on Earth

ERFC-10
Acute pancreatitis 275 k

hospitalizations in US during 2009

YD-13
Pancreatic cancer 57 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
kidney Chronic kidney disease 497,500 k

people on Earth during

MKT-15
Dialysis or kidney transplantation ≥ 726 k

people in US during

CDC-19
Kidney infection 388 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Kidney or ureter stone 764 k

″

 ″
Kidney cancer 74 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
bladder Urinary incontinence 9,600 k ≥65-year-old women in US DSP-20
Bladder infection / urinary cystitis 646 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Bladder cancer 297 k

new male cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
uterus Dysmenorrhea 16–91% of reproductive-age women JH-14
Abnormal uterine bleeding / abnormal menstruation 506 k

US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Inflammatory disease of female pelvic organs 335 k

″

 ″
Ovarian-cyst accident 4%

of women in by age 65

BC-09
Cervical cancer 287 k

new cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
Other uterine cancer 62 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
Ovarian cancer 23 k

″

″
Emoji Condition Population Citation
prostate Benign prostatic hyperplasia ≥50%

of ≥50-year-old men

BSJ-84
Prostate cancer 904 k

new cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
Testicular cancer 10 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
breast Breast cancer 1,384 k

new cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
Gynecomastia 36–65%

of adult men from various populations

NFQ-79, NCB-84
Lactational mastitis 2–10%

of breastfeeding women

ACOG-07
Mastalgia / breast pain 68%

of 18–44-year-old adult women in Virginia

ADN-01
Nipple discharge 16–48 k

breast-clinic cases in the UK each year

CSE-20
muscle Alcoholic myopathy / alcohol-induced muscle disease ≥ 2% of people in Western Hemisphere PV-03
Inflammatory myopathy (e.g., dermatomyositis) 1,160–19,000 k new cases every year MA-15
COVID-19-related myalgia / fatigue 48.7% of hospitalized COVID-19 people in Wuhan, China HC-20
Rotator-cuff tendinopathy 62% of >80-year-old people TT-14
Plantar fasciitis 0.85% of adults in US NRL-18
skin Skin rashes 1,265 k

pediatric US emergency visits during

NCHS-17-EDST
Acute disease of skin and subcutaneous tissue 5,214 k

US emergency visits during

″
Cellulitis 1,606 k

″

 ″
Cutaneous abscess 1,228 k

″

 ″
Contact dermatitis and eczema 277 k

″

 ″
Urticaria / hives 349 k

″

 ″
Nonspecific skin symptoms (e.g., jaundice, edema) 1,290 k

″

 ″
Melanoma 96 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
antibody Food allergy 2.2%–5.5% ≤1-year-old infants VC-06
Rheumatoid arthritis 0.3–1.0%

of people on Earth

WHO-CRC
Systemic lupus erythromatosis 161–322 k

of people in US

HCG-07
Sjögren syndrome 49 k

of people in US

″
HIV/AIDS 36,700 k people on Earth during UNAIDS-17
Primary immunodeficiency diseases 1⁄1200

of live births in US

BJM-07
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 200 k

new cases on Earth during 2008

JA-11
Leukemia 196 k

″

″
Myeloma 32 k

new cases in US during 2019

SRL-19
NCHS-17-AUI
National Center for Health Statistics Accidents or Unintentional Injuries. FastStats. .
NSCISC-19
National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Figures at a Glance. .
UNAIDS-17
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS Data . .
WHO-CRC
World Health Organization Chronic rheumatic conditions. Chronic diseases and health promotion. Accessed on .

Multiple usages

All proposed emoji characters have notable metaphorical references or symbolism. In particular, all characters represent numerous related conditions, symptoms, syndromes, disorders, and diseases, as well as their respective specialties of medicine. Several have significant cultural and linguistic idioms.

Emoji Structures Actions & conditions Specialties English idioms
neck

Neck, throat, pharynx, larynx, vocal cords, voice, esophagus, carotid, jugular

Swallowing; choking; strangulation; sore throat; throat/neck pain, ache, injury, sprain, strain, lump, mass; cervical radiculopathy; pharyngeal cancer; tracheostomy; neck biopsy, surgery

Neurosurgery, ENT surgery

Be choked with, break one’s neck to do something, choke back, choke something down, choke up, neck and neck, get/catch it in the neck, up to one’s neck in [OU-19-NOAD]

chest

Chest, pectoral muscles, rib, ribcage, thorax, thymus, armpit/axilla

Chest pain, ache (particularly musculoskeletal chest pain); thoracic injury, trauma; rib fracture; armpit pain, injury, infection; hidradenitis supperativa; chest-wall/mediastinal tumor; thymoma; chest biopsy, surgery

General, trauma, and cardiothoracic surgery

Get something off one’s chest, play (or keep) one’s cards close to one’s chest [OU-19-NOAD], put hairs one one’s chest [MGH-02], take the spear in one’s chest [MGH-05]

abdomen

Abdomen, pelvis, navel, spleen, flank

Belly dance; bellyache; abdominal/pelvic pain, cramps, spasm, ache, injury, trauma, strain; abdominal hernia; abdominal fat / potbelly; swollen belly; beer belly / ascites; abdominal/pelvic biopsy, surgery; laparoscopy; laparotomy

General and trauma surgery

Belly up to something, fire in one’s belly, go belly up [OU-19-NOAD], empurrar com a barriga (Portuguese “to postpone an important task”, lit. “to push something with the belly”) [DODP-20], yellow-belly [OU-19-NOAD]

Emoji Structures Actions & conditions Specialties English idioms
back

Upper back, lower back, spine and vertebrae, spinal cord, flank, buttocks

Back pain, spasm, ache, injury, trauma, strain; vertebral fracture; spinal-cord injury; spinal stenosis; lumbar radiculopathy; sciatica; ankylosing spondylitis; back biopsy, surgery

Neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery

At someone’s back, behind someone’s back, be the butt of, get/put someone’s back up [OU-19-NOAD], kick in the butt [MGH-05], on one’s back, pain in the butt/backside, put one’s back into, someone’s back is turned, turn one’s back on, with one’s back to/against the wall, work one’s butt/back off [OU-19-NOAD], сенің арқаңда күн көріп жүрмін (Kasakh “thank you; I am alive because of you”, lit. “I see the sun on your back”) [BH-15]

thyroid

Thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, thyroid hormones, parathyroid hormone

Thyroid nodule, goiter, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, thyroiditis, thyroid cancer, thyroid biopsy, thyroidectomy

Endocrinology
stomach

Stomach, esophagus, duodenum

Hunger; digestion; indigestion; heartburn; stomach acid; acid reflux; upper-gastrointestinal bleeding; esophagitis; gastritis; duodenitis; esophageal/stomach/duodenal ulcer; eating disorder; esophageal varices; endoscopy; esophageal/stomach cancer, biopsy, surgery

Gastroenterology

An army marches on its stomach, cannot stomach [OU-19-NOAD], have no stomach for, have eyes bigger than one’s stomach, have butterflies in one’s stomach [FDI-15], on an empty stomach, on a full stomach [OU-19-NOAD], the pit of one’s stomach, pump someone’s stomach, settle one’s stomach [FDI-15], a strong stomach [OU-19-NOAD], turn one’s stomach, way to someone’s heart is through their stomach [FDI-15]

intestine

Small intestine, colon, rectum, anus

Digestion; indigestion; gut flora; intestinal secretions; fiber; constipation; diarrhea; dysentery; enteritis; colitis; fecal incontinence; diverticulosis; diverticulitis; hemorrhoid; intestinal/colorectal/anorectal biopsy, cancer, surgery; stool test; enema; colonoscopy; intestinal/colon/anorectal biopsy, surgery; colectomy

Gastroenterology

Bust a gut; feel in one’s gut; gut feeling; gut instinct; gut reaction; have the guts to; hate someone’s guts; kick in the guts; no guts, no glory; slog/spew/spill one’s guts (out); work one’s guts off [FDI-15]

Emoji Structures Actions & conditions Specialties English idioms
liver

Liver, bile ducts, gallbladder

Metabolism; heavy alcohol use; alcohol use disorder; gallstone; cholecystitis; cholangitis; hepatitis; lipid disorders; fatty liver disease; cirrhosis; liver cancer; cholangiosarcoma; cholecystectomy; liver biopsy, surgery, transplant

Hepatology

Lily-livered; have the gall; filled with gall [OU-19-NOAD]; what am I, chopped liver [FDI-15]; كبد (Arabic “interior”, “inside”, “center”, “middle”, lit. “liver”); في كبد السماء (Arabic “high in the sky”, lit. “in the liver of the sky”); منظر يفتت الأكباد (“heart-rendering scene”, lit. “liver-shattering scene”) [OU-19-OAD]; जिगर (Hindi, “courage”, “vitality”, “spirit”) [MGRS-14]; 膽 / 胆 (Chinese “guts”, “bravery”, lit. “gallbladder”) 大膽 / 大胆 (Chinese “bold”, lit. “big gallbladder”) [OU-13]

pancreas

Pancreas

Insulin; sugar; diabetes mellitus; pancreatic stone; pancreatitis; pancreatic cancer; pancreatic failure; pancreatic abscess; pancreatic biopsy, surgery, transplant

Gastroenterology, endocrinology
kidney

Kidney, adrenal glands, ureter

Filtering; dehydration; fluid and electrolytes; kidney infection / pyelonephritis; chronic kidney disease; dialysis; kidney cancer; kidney stone; renal cyst; adrenal hyperplasia; pheochromocytoma; kidney biopsy, surgery, transplant

Nephrology

Kidney-buster, a man of my kidney [FDI-15], me costó un riñón (Spanish “it cost me a fortune”, lit. “it cost me a kidney”) [CSD-20]

bladder

Bladder, ureter, urethra

Urine, urination; urinary urge; urinary retention; urinary incontinence; polyuria; cystitis / urinary-tract infection (UTI); bladder cancer; Foley catheter; bladder cancer; urine test; cystoscopy; bladder biopsy, surgery; cystectomy

Urology

Bladdered, extract the urine, not have a pot to pee in, pee one’s pants, pee in someone’s —, peed off, shy bladder [FDI-15]

Emoji Structures Actions & conditions Specialties English idioms
uterus

Uterus, cervix uteri, ovary, Fallopian tube, vagina, placenta, estrogens

Menstruation; abnormal uterine bleeding; ovarian-cyst pain, rupture, hemorrhage; uterine fibroid / leiomyoma; sexual dysfunction; sexually transmitted infection (STI); pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, infertility, contraception, menopause, polycystic-ovary syndrome; ovarian failure; cervical/endometrial/ovarian cancer, biopsy, surgery; Pap smear; hysterectomy; salpingo-ophrectomy

Gynecology and obstetrics

Womb-to-tomb [WN-06]

prostate

Prostate gland, testes, seminal vesicles, penis, androgens

Benign prostatic hyperplasia; prostate cancer; testicular cancer; sexual dysfunction; prostatitis; infertility; contraception; sexually transmitted infection (STI); testicular torsion; hypogonadism; testicular/prostate/penile biopsy, surgery; orchiectomy; prostatectomy

Urology

 Muda labudova (Serbo-Croatian “impossible”, lit. “balls of a swan”) [BH-15]
breast

Breast, nipple, mammary glands, lactiferous ducts

Breast mass; breast cancer; gynecomastia; mastalgia / breast pain; nipple discharge; mastitis; mammography; breast biopsy, surgery; mastectomy

Gynecology

 El seno de (Spanish “the center/core of”, lit. “the breast of”) [CSD-20]
Emoji Structures Actions & conditions Specialties English idioms
muscle

Muscle, tendon / sinew

Exercise; dietary protein; metabolism; physical therapy; rehabilitation; muscle and tendon injury; myalgia / muscle ache; myopathy; rhabdomyolysis; dermatomyositis; polymyositis; muscular dystrophy; neuromuscular-junction disorders (e.g., myasthenia gravis); channelopathies; muscle biopsy, surgery

Orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, rheumatology

Move a muscle, musclebrain, musclehead, muscle in/into, muscle up, pull a muscle [FDI-15]

skin

Skin, hair, fat

Skincare; cosmetics; itching; goosebumps; rash; jaundice; edema; bruising; blistering; itching, pruritus; hives, urticaria; folliculitis; cellulitis; skin abscess, boil; skin infestation; acne; rosacea; mole; rash; psoriasis; genodermatosis; soft-tissue mass (e.g., skin cyst, lipoma); skin cancer; skin biopsy, surgery

Dermatology, rheumatology

Be skin and bones, get under someone’s skin, it’s no skin off my nose/back, make someone’s skin crawl/creep, a thick skin, a thin skin, under the skin [OU-19-NOAD]

antibody

Antibodies, receptors, white blood cells, immune system, lymph, lymph nodes, lymph vessels, spleen, thymus, bone marrow

Immunity; allergy; anaphylaxis; angioedema; autoimmune/rheumatic disease; HIV/AIDS; immunodeficiency; immunosuppression; mastocytosis; lymphoma; leukemia; myeloma; antibody; antigen; allergen; cytokine storm; immunization/vaccination; immunotherapy; lymph-node/bone-marrow/spleen/thymus surgery

Immunology, rheumatology, infectious diseases

Allergic to, immune to [OU-19-NOAD]

FDI-15
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. Farlex. .
MGH-02
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. McGraw-Hill Companies. .
MGH-05
McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions. McGraw-Hill Companies. .
MGRS-14
McGregor, R. S. The Oxford Hindi English Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Companies. .
OU-13
现代汉语规范词典 / The Standard Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese. Oxford University Press. , .
OU-19-NOAD
New Oxford American Dictionary. Oxford University Press. , .
OU-19-OAD
Oxford Arabic Dictionary. Oxford University Press. , .
WN-06
WordNet 3.0. Princeton University. .

Sequence usages

Most proposed emoji characters enables the expression of many symptoms, activities, and professions of interest as emoji sequences. Several proposed characters are mutually synergistic.

neck

neck🔨
Aching neck/throat
blunt neck/throat injury
neck🔥
Sore throat/neck
burning throat/neck
neck inflammation
throat/neck burn injury
neck⚡️
Neck nerves
neck radiculopathy
neck🩸
Neck bleeding/brusing
neck🎶
neck🎵
🎤neck
Voice
vocal cords
neck🦴
Neck bones (cervical spine, clavicles)
neckmuscle
Neck muscles
neckskin
Neck skin
neck🤚
Choking
neck🎈
Neck/throat swelling/lump
neck🧬
Neck/throat cancer
neck🔬
Neck/throat biopsy
🔪neck
Neck/throat surgery
penetrating neck/throat injury
neck🕳
Tracheostomy
🧑‍⚕️neck
Neck/throat surgeon

chest

chest🔨
Aching chest
blunt chest injury
chest🔥
Sore/burning chest pain
chest inflammation
chest burn injury
chest⚡️
Chest-wall nerves
neuropathic pain
chest🩸️
Chest-wall bleeding/bruising
chest🦴
Ribcage/ribs
chestmuscle
Chest muscles
chestskin
Chest skin
neck🎈
Chest-wall/mediastinal swelling/lump
neck🧬
Chest-wall/mediastinal cancer
chest🔬
Chest biopsy
🔪chest
Chest surgery
penetrating chest-wall injury
chest🕳
Thoracostomy
chest tube
🧑‍⚕️neck
Chest surgeon

abdomen

abdomen💃
abdomen🕺
Belly dance
abdomen🔨
Aching/cramping abdomen/belly/pelvis
blunt abdominal/pelvic injury
abdomen🔥
Sore/burning abdomen/pelvis pain
abdominal/pelvic inflammation / burn injury
abdomen⚡️
Abdominal/pelvic nerves / neuropathic pain
abdomen🩸
Abdominal/pelvic bleeding/bruising
abdomen🦴
Pelvic bones
abdomenmuscle
Abdominal/pelvic muscles
abdomenskin
Abdominal/pelvic skin
abdomen🧬
Abdominal/pelvic-wall swelling/lump
abdomen🧬
Abdominal/pelvic-wall cancer
💉abdomen
Abdominal/pelvic needle injection / aspiration (e.g., paracentesis)
abdomen🔬
Abdominal/pelvic-wall biopsy
🔪abdomen
Abdominal/pelvic surgery (e.g., laparoscopy)
penetrating abdominal/pelvic injury
abdomen🕳
Bellybutton / navel
abdominal/pelvic hernia
peritoneal-dialysis tube
🧑‍⚕️abdomen
Abdominal/pelvic surgeon

back

back🔨
Backache
blunt back/buttock injury
back🔥
Sore/burning back/buttock pain
back/buttock inflammation / burn injury
back⚡️
Spinal cord
back nerves
neuropathic back pain
lumbar radiculopathy
sciatica
abdomen🩸
Back bleeding/bruising
back🦴
Backbone / spine / vertebrae
backmuscle
Back muscles
backskin
Back skin
back🧬
Back-wall/spinal cancer swelling/lump
back🧬
Back-wall/spinal cancer
inherited disorders of back/spine
back💊
Back medication (e.g., oral analgesics)
💉back
Back injection (e.g., lumbar puncture)
back🔬
Back/spinal biopsy
🔪back
Back surgery
penetrating back injury
🧑‍⚕️back
Back surgeon

thyroid

thyroid🔨
thyroid🔥
Thyroid pain
thyroiditis
⬇️thyroid
Hypothyroidism
hypoparathyroidism
⬆️thyroid
Hyperthyroidism
hyperparathyroidism
thyroid🌩
Thyroid storm / thyrotoxicosis
thyroid🎈
Goiter
thyroid swelling/nodule
thyroid🧬
Thyroid cancer
inherited disorders of thyroid
thyroid🔬
Thyroid biopsy
thyroid💊
Thyroid medication (e.g., hormone replacement)
🔪thyroid
Thyroid surgery
🧑‍⚕️thyroid
Endocrinologist
thyroid🎗
Thyroid-disease awareness

stomach

stomach💧
Stomach acid
stomach🔨
Aching stomach pain
stomach🔥
Heartburn
acid reflux
esophagitis
gastritis
duodenitis
stomach⬆️
Acid reflux
hiatal hernia
stomach🩸
Upper-gastrointestinal bleeding (e.g., bleeding stomach ulcer)
melena
stomach🕳
Esophageal/gastric/stomach ulcer / perforation
stomach🎈
Full/swollen stomach
esophageal/stomach mass
esophageal balloon dilatation
🧠stomach
Eating disorder
stomach🧬
Esophageal/stomach cancer
inherited disorders of esophagus / stomach
stomach🔬
Upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy / esophagogastroduodenoscopy
esophageal/gastric/duodenal biopsy
stomach💊
Stomach medication (e.g., antacids)
🔪stomach
Esophageal/gastric/duodenal surgery
bariatric surgery
🧑‍⚕️stomach
Gastroenterologist
stomach🎗
Stomach-disease awareness

intestine

intestine🦠
Gut flora
intestine🔨
Aching intestinal/anorectal pain
intestine🔥
Burning intestinal/rectal/anal pain
enteritis
colitis
proctitis
intestine💎
Constipation
intestine💦
Diarrhea
intestinal secretions
intestine🩸
Lower-gastrointestinal bleeding
hematochezia / bright red blood per rectum
🌾intestine
Gluten sensitivity
intestine🕳
Intestinal hernia / perforation
colostomy tube
intestine❌
Intestinal failure
intestine🎈
Intestinal/rectal/anal bloating/swelling/mass
hemorrhoid
intestine🧬
Intestinal/rectal/anal cancer
inherited disorders of intestine
intestine🔬
Colonoscopy
intestinal/rectal biopsy
intestine💊
Intestinal medication (e.g., laxatives)
🔪intestine
Intestinal/rectal/anal surgery
🧑‍⚕️intestine
Gastroenterologist
intestine🎗
Intestinal/colorectal-disease awareness

liver

liver💧
Bile
liver🔨
Aching liver/gallbladder pain
liver🔥
Burning liver/gallbladder pain
hepatitis
cholecystitis
liver💎
Gallstone
🍺liver
&c.
Alcoholic liver disease
liver❌
Liver failure
liver🎈
Liver swelling/cyst/mass
liver🧬
Liver cancer
gallbladder cancer
cholangiosarcoma
inborn errors of metabolism
inherited disorders of liver / biliary tract
liver🔬
Liver biopsy
gallbladder/bile-duct biopsy
cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
liver💊
Liver medication (e.g., bile-acid sequestrants)
🔪liver
Liver/gallbladder surgery
liver🕳
Biliary drainage tube
liver↪️
Liver transplant
🧑‍⚕️liver
Hepatologist
liver🎗
Liver-disease awareness

pancreas

pancreas🔨
Aching pancreatic pain
pancreas🔥
Burning pancreatic pain
pancreatitis
pancreas💎
Pancreatic stone
pancreas🎈
Pancreatic edema/cyst/pseudocyst/mass
pancreas🦠
Pancreatic abscess
pancreas💧
pancreas🩸
Diabetes mellitus
pancreas❌
Exocrine pancreatic failure
type-1 diabetes mellitus
pancreas🧬
Pancreatic cancer
inherited disorders of pancreas (e.g., cystic fibrosis)
pancreas🔬
Pancreatic biopsy
pancreas💊
Pancreas medication (e.g., antidiabetic medication)
pancreas💉
Insulin injection
🔪pancreas
Pancreatic surgery
pancreas↪️
Pancreatic transplant
🧑‍⚕️pancreas
Endocrinologist
pancreas🎗
Pancreas-disease awareness

kidney

kidney🔨
Aching renal pain
renal colic
kidney🔥
Burning renal pain
nephritis
pyelonephritis
kidney💎
Kidney stone
kidney🦠
Kidney infection
pyelonephritis
kidney🎈
Renal cyst/mass
kidney⬇️
Acute kidney injury
chronic kidney disease (CKD)
kidney❌
Kidney failure
end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
kidney🧬
Kidney cancer
inherited disorders of kidney / adrenal gland
kidney🔬
Kidney biopsy
kidney💊
Kidney medication (e.g., diuretics)
🔪kidney
Kidney surgery
kidney🕳
Nephrostomy tube
kidney⚙️
Dialysis
kidney↪️
Kidney transplant
🧑‍⚕️kidney
Nephrologist
kidney🎗
Kidney-disease awareness

bladder

bladder💧
Urine
bladder🔨
Aching bladder pain/cramping/spasm
bladder🔥
Burning bladder pain
cystitis
🏃bladder
bladder🎈
Full bladder
urinary urge
bladder🩸
Blood in urine / hematuria
bladder🦠
Bladder/urinary-tract infection (UTI)
cystitis
bladder🧬
Bladder cancer
inherited disorders of lower urinary tract
bladder🔬
Cystoscopy
bladder biopsy
bladder⬆️
Straight/Foley urinary catherization
bladder💊
Bladder medication (e.g., bladder antispasmodic)
🔪bladder
Bladder surgery
kidney🕳
Suprapubic catheterization
🧑‍⚕️bladder
Urologist
bladder🎗
Bladder-disease awareness

uterus

uterus🩸
Menstruation
uterus⏰
uterus🗓
uterus🔁
Menstruation cycle
period
uterus🌩
Premenstrual syndrome
uterus🔨
Aching uterine/ovarian/vaginal pain
uterus🔥
Burning uterine/ovarian/vaginal pain
endometritis
cervicitis
vaginitis
pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
uterus🦠
Sexually transmitted infection (STI)
endometritis
cervicitis
vaginitis
uterus🎈
Uterine fibroid
ovarian cyst
uterine/ovarian mass
uterus⬇️
Ovarian failure
menopause
uterus🧬
Cervical/endometrial/ovarian/vaginal/vulvar cancer
inherited disorders of uterus/ovaries/vagina/vulva
uterus🔬
Colposcopy
Pap smear
vaginal/cervical/uterine/ovarian biopsy
uterus💊
Uterine/ovarian/vaginal/vulvar medication (e.g., oral contraception)
🔪uterus
Uterine/cervical/ovarian/vaginal/vulvar surgery (e.g., hysterectomy)
🧑‍⚕️uterus
Gynecologist
uterus🎗
Uterus/ovary-disease awareness

prostate

prostate🔨
Aching testicular/prostatic/penile pain
blunt testicular/penile injury
prostate🔥
Burning testicular/prostatic/penile pain
prostatitis
orchitis
urethritis
prostate🦠
Sexually transmitted infection (STI)
uretheritis
prostate🎈
Benign prostatic hyperplasia
prostate🧬
Testicular/prostatic/penile cancer
inherited disorders of prostate/testes/penis
prostate🔬
Prostate/testicular biopsy
🔪prostate
Testicular/prostatic/penile surgery (e.g., prostatectomy)
🧑‍⚕️prostate
Urologist
prostate🎗
Prostate-disease awareness

breast

breast🔨
Aching breast pain
mastalgia
blunt breast trauma
breast🔥
Burning breast pain
mastitis
💧breast
Nipple discharge
🩸breast
Nipple bleeding
breast🦠
Breast infection
mastitis
breast🧬
Breast cancer
BRCA mutation
inherited disorders of breast
breast🔬
Breast biopsy
breast💊
Breast medication (e.g., breast chemotherapy)
🔪breast
Breast surgery (e.g., mastectomy)
🧑‍⚕️breast
Breast clinician
breast🎗
Breast-disease awareness

muscle

muscle🔨
Aching muscular/tendon pain
myalgia
muscle🎈
Muscular swelling
muscle🔥
Burning muscular/tendon pain
tendinosis
tendinitis
tenosynovitis
myositis
muscle🦠
Muscular infection / abscess
necrotizing fasciitis
muscle🩸
Muscular bleeding / hematoma
rhabdomyolysis
muscle⚡️
Neuromuscular disorders/diseases (e.g., myasthenia gravis)
🌱muscle
🌾muscle
Plant protein
🥛muscle
Milk/whey protein
muscle🔬
Muscle biopsy
🔪muscle
Muscle surgery
🧑‍⚕️muscle
Physical/occupational therapist
sports-medicine/physical-medicine/rehabilitation physician
rheumatologist
muscle🎗
Muscle-disease awareness

skin

skin🏜
Dry skin
skin💧
Moist skin
skin🔥
Skin pain
dermatitis
skin burn
skin🔴
Reddened skin
rash
hives
cellulitis
boil / skin abscess
skin🟡
Yellowed skin
jaundice
skin⚪️
Pale skin
pallor
skin⚫️
Blackened skin
freckle
macule
mole / nevus
skin🎈
Skin swelling
hives
edema
lump
nodule
mass
skin🧬
Skin cancer
inherited disorders of skin
skin🔬
Skin biopsy
skin🦠
Skin infection
folliculitis
cellulitis
boil / skin abscess
🧴skin
Topical skin medication
skincare
skin💊
Oral skin medication
🔪skin
Skin surgery
skin laceration
🧑‍⚕️skin
Dermatologist
skin🎗
Skin-disease awareness

antibody

🦠antibody
Microbial immunity
🥜antibody
🍌antibody
&c.
Food allergy
antibody🎈
antibody🔥
Lymphadenopathy / swollen lymph nodes
tonsillitis
lymphangitis
lymphedema
antibody🌩
Cytokine storm
antibody🧬
Leukemia
lymphoma
myeloma
primary immunodeficiencies and other inherited disorders of immunity
antibody⬇️
antibody❌
Immunodeficiency
immunosuppression
HIV/AIDS
antibody
Immunotherapy
antirheumatic drug
antiretroviral drug
💉antibody
Immunization
allergy shot
🧑‍⚕️antibody
Immunologist
allergist
antibody🎗
Immune-disease awareness

Breaking new ground

All proposed emoji characters represent new and different concepts. Careful consideration has been given to each proposed emoji character: none are simple variations of concepts already conveyed by existing characters. (This section compares proposed characters with already-encoded characters; mutual comparisons between proposed characters are discussed in § Distinctiveness).

Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji
neck

In addition to the neck region in general, neck also represents the throat, carotid arteries, jugular veins, and cervical spine.

neck also represents activities, idioms, symptoms, injuries, fractures, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures.

There are no existing characters that represent these structures and concepts.

chest

In addition to the chest region in general, chest also represents the chest wall, ribcage, and armpits.

chest also represents activities, idioms, symptoms, injuries, fractures, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 13% of people in multiple countries experience noncardiac chest pain per year [FAC-11].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by anatomical heartlungs, and replacing chest with anatomical heartlungs would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by chest-wall and nonspecific chest disorders. For instance, using lungs🦴🔨 instead of chest🦴🔨 to represent a rib fracture would be confusing.

abdomen

In addition to the abdominal region in general, abdomen also represents the pelvis, hips, abdomino­pelvic wall, and abdomino­pelvic cavity.

abdomen also represents activities, symptoms, injuries, herniation, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, abdominal hernias affect hundreds of thousands in the US alone [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🤢🤮, and replacing abdomen with 🤢🤮 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by abdominal-wall and nonspecific abdominal disorders that are not related to nausea or vomiting. For instance, using 🤢🕳 or 🤮🕳 instead of abdomen️🕳 to represent an abdominal hernia or stoma would be confusing.

back

In addition to the back region in general, back also represents the vertebrae, intervertebral discs, spinal cord, and spinal roots.

back also represents activities, symptoms, injuries, fractures, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 23% of people on Earth experience low back pain per month [HD-12].

There are no existing characters that represent these structures and concepts.

Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji
thyroid

In addition to the thyroid gland, thyroid also represents the embedded parathyroid glands.

thyroid also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; 4.6% of the US population alone—and nearly one-fourth the population of Tibet—have hypothyroidism [HGJ-02, NP-20].

There are no existing characters that represent these structures and concepts.

stomach

In addition to the stomach organ, stomach also represents the esophagus and duodenum; together they form the upper gastrointestinal tract within a single generic character.

stomach also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 10–20% of people in Western countries experience gastroesophageal reflux disease [HD-05].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🤢🤮, and replacing stomach with 🤢🤮 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by gastroesophageal disorders that are not related to nausea or vomiting. For instance, using 🤢🧬 or 🤮🧬 instead of stomach️🧬 to represent cancer of the esophagus/stomach would be confusing.

intestine

In addition to the small intestine, intestine also represents the large intestine, rectum, and anus; together they form the lower gastrointestinal tract within a single generic character.

intestine also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, more than one million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year [JA-11].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🚽💩, and replacing intestine with 🚽💩 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by intestinal disorders. For instance, using 🚽🧬 or 💩🧬 instead of intestine️🧬 to represent colon cancer would be confusing.

liver

In addition to the liver, liver also represents the gallbladder and bile ducts; together they form the hepatobiliary system within a single generic character.

liver also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 2.3 billion people on Earth have viral hepatitis [JM-18].

There are no existing characters that represent these structures and concepts.

pancreas

Although it represents only one organ, pancreas is both important and visually recognizable enough to warrant its own individual character.

pancreas represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures, in particular diabetes mellitus. These concepts are common; for instance, 8.5% of people on Earth have diabetes [ERFC-10].

There are no existing characters that represent these structures and concepts.

Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji
kidney

In addition to the kidney, kidney also represents the ureter (together forming the upper urinary tract), as well as the adjacent adrenal glands within a single generic character.

kidney also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, about five billion people have chronic kidney disease [MKT-15].

There are no existing characters that represent these structures and concepts.

bladder

In addition to the bladder, bladder also represents the urethra, together forming the lower urinary tract within a single generic character.

bladder also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, urinary incontinence affects millions of people older than 65 years in the US alone [DSP-20].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🚽, and replacing bladder with 🚽 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by lower-urinary disorders. For instance, using 🚽⬆️ instead of bladder️⬆️ to represent urinary catherization would be confusing.

uterus

In addition to the uterus, uterus also represents the ovaries, Fallopian tubes, and vagina, together forming the female reproductive tract within a single generic character.

uterus also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, abdominal hernias affects hundreds of thousands in the US alone [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🤰🩸, and replacing uterus with 🤰🩸 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by female pelvic disorders. For instance, using 🤰🩸️🩸 instead of uterus️🩸️🩸 to represent heavy menstruation would be confusing, and using 🩸🧬 or 🤰🧬 instead of uterus🧬 to represent cancer of the uterus/ovaries/&c. would also be confusing.

prostate

In addition to the prostate gland, prostate also represents the testes, seminal vesicles, and penis, together forming the male reproductive tract within a single generic character.

prostate also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, at least half of men older than 50 have benign prostatic hyperplasia [BSJ-84].

There are no existing characters that represent these structures and concepts.

Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji
breast

Although it represents only one organ, breast is both important and visually recognizable enough to warrant its own individual character.

breast also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, at least one million people are diagnosed with breast cancer per year [JA-11].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🤱, and replacing uterus with 🤱 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by breast disorders. For instance, using 🤱🧬 instead of breast🧬 to represent breast cancer would be confusing.

muscle

In addition to muscles, muscle also represents tendons and dietary protein, together within a single generic character.

muscle also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, abdominal hernias affects at least 2% of people in the Western Hemisphere [PV-03], and around half of people with COVID-19 appear to experience diffuse muscle aching [HC-20].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🦴 (which represents skeletal structures and joints), 💪 🦵 (which represent skin and other soft tissues of specific body regions), or 🍖🥩 (which represent animal meat), and replacing muscle with 🦴💪🦵🍖🥩 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by muscular disorders. For instance, using 🌱🦴, 🌱💪, or 🌱🦵 instead of 🌱muscle️ to represent plant protein would be confusing, and using 🍖🦠 or 🥩🦠 instead of muscle️🦠 to represent muscle infection would also be confusing.

skin

In addition to skin, skin also represents adipose tissue and body hair, together within a single generic character.

skin also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, millions of people in the US alone visit emergency departments for acute skin and subcutaneous diseases [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by other characters that simply expose skin (e.g., 🧑🦵🦶💪✋👂👃🧔🦰🦱🦲), and replacing skin with such characters would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by integumentary disorders. For instance, using 🧑🧬, 💪🧬, &c. instead of skin🧬 to represent skin cancer would be confusing.

antibody

In addition to antibody proteins, antibody also represents white blood cells, lymph nodes and vessels, lymph, spleen, thymus, bone marrow, together forming the immune and lymphatic systems within a single generic character.

antibody also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, about 36.7 million people on Earth have HIV/AIDS [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🦠💉, and replacing antibody with 🦠💉 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by immune and lymphatic disorders. For instance, using 🦠⬇️ or 💉⬇️ instead of antibody️⬇️ to represent HIV/AIDS would be confusing.

Distinctiveness

All proposed emoji characters represent visually depictable, distinct, and recognizable paradigms, semiotically exemplifying classes of entities much larger than single images. Each has been carefully chosen to maximize both visual and conceptual distinctiveness from existing characters and from each other.

The general approach regarding the distinctiveness of each proposed character is that:

  1. The proposed character is visually distinct from all other characters, both those already encoded and those proposed in this document.
  2. The proposed character generically represents a paradigm encompassing multiple associated structures and concepts. In addition to the region or organ that the proposed character specifically represents, it also more represents closely associated specific structures, as well as activities, symptoms, injury, infection, and other disorders associated with those structures, as discussed in § Multiple usages.
  3. These associated concepts in general are common and prevalent, with large affected international populations who would find the proposed character useful, as discussed in § Stakeholder populations.
  4. These common and prevalent concepts are not adequately represented by other ostensibly similar characters. Semiotic distinctiveness from already-encoded characters is previously discussed in § Breaking new ground. This section additionally discusses mutual distinctiveness between proposed characters.
  5. Certain proposed characters could be theoretically unified with each other characters, but such a character would have compromised visual recognizability, as well as compromised semiotic usefulness for its associated concepts.
Visual uniqueness Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji Against unification
neck has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized. Its chin and clavicles further distinguish it from other characters.

In addition to the neck region in general, neck also represents the throat, larynx, vocal cords, carotid arteries, jugular veins, and cervical spine.

neck also represents activities, idioms, symptoms, injuries, fractures, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, at least 30% of people on Earth experience neck pain per year [CSP-15].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by chestbackthyroid, and replacing chest with chestbackthyroid would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by throat and neck disorders. For instance, using chest🔥, back🔥, or thyroid🔥 instead of neck🔥 to represent a sore throat would be confusing.

neckchestabdomen could theoretically be combined into one “trunk” emoji, but this would compromise both visual recognizability (its silhouette would be identical to back) and semiotic usefulness (neck/throat pain, chest pain, and abdominal pain are individually frequent and imply dissimilar connotations such as the common cold, soreness after lifting a weight, and indigestion, respectively).

chest is easily recognized. Its visual silhouette is unique among the body-part emoji characters, and its color and musculature separate it from clothing such as shirts or blouses.

In addition to the chest region in general, chest also represents the chest wall, ribcage, and armpits.

chest also represents activities, idioms, symptoms, injuries, fractures, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 13% of people in multiple countries experience noncardiac chest pain per year [FAC-11].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by anatomical heartlungs, and replacing chest with anatomical heartlungs would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by chest-wall and nonspecific chest disorders. For instance, using anatomical heart🦴🔨 instead of chest🦴🔨 to represent a rib fracture would be confusing.

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abdomen has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized. Its navel and waist further distinguish it from other characters.

In addition to the abdominal region in general, abdomen also represents the pelvis, hips, abdomino­pelvic wall, and abdomino­pelvic cavity.

abdomen also represents activities, symptoms, injuries, herniation, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, abdominal hernias affect hundreds of thousands in the US alone [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by chestbackstomachintestineliver🤢🤮 &c., and replacing chest with chestbackstomach🤢🤮 &c. would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by abdominal-wall and nonspecific abdomino­pelvic disorders. For instance, using intestine🔥 instead of abdomen🔥 to represent aching abdominal muscles or abdominal shingles pain would be confusing.

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Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji Against unification
back has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized. Its scapulae and spine further distinguish it from other characters.

In addition to the back region in general, back also represents the vertebrae, intervertebral discs, spinal cord, and spinal roots.

back also represents activities, symptoms, injuries, fractures, inflammation, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 23% of people on Earth experience low back pain per month [HD-12].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by chestabdomenkidney &c., and replacing back with chestabdomenkidney &c. would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by back and spinal disorders. For instance, using 🔪abdomen🦴 or 🔪kidney🦴 instead of 🔪back🦴 to represent spinal surgery would be confusing.

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thyroid has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to the thyroid gland, thyroid also represents the embedded parathyroid glands.

thyroid also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; 4.6% of the US population alone has hypothyroidism [HGJ-02].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by neck, which denotes concepts related to the neck and throat, and replacing thyroid with neck would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by thyroid disorders. For instance, using ⬇️neck instead of ⬇️thyroid to represent hypothyroidism would be confusing.

Not applicable.
stomach has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to the stomach organ, stomach also represents the esophagus and duodenum; together they form the upper gastrointestinal tract within a single generic character.

stomach also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 10–20% of people in Western countries experience gastroesophageal reflux disease [HD-05].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🤢🤮abdomenintestine, and replacing stomach with 🤢🤮abdomenintestine would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by gastroesophageal disorders not related to nausea or vomiting. For instance, using 🤢🧬 or 🤮🧬 instead of stomach️🧬 to represent cancer of the esophagus/stomach would be confusing, and using intestine⬆️ or abdomen⬆️ instead of stomach️⬆️️ to represent acid reflux would be confusing.)

stomachintestineliverpancreas could theoretically be combined into one “gut” emoji, but this would compromise both visual recognizability (“gut” would have a less definite graphical silhouette than those of the individually recognizable stomachintestineliverpancreas) and semiotic usefulness (gastroesophageal, intestinal, hepatobiliary, and pancreatic/diabetic disease are individually common and have dissimilar impacts on lives).

Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji Against unification
intestine has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to the small intestine, intestine also represents the large intestine, rectum, and anus; together they form the lower gastrointestinal tract within a single generic character.

intestine also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, more than one million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer each year [JA-11].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by intestine🚽, and replacing intestine with stomach🚽💩 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by intestinal disorders. For instance, using stomach💎 instead of intestine️💎 to represent constipation would be confusing, and using 🚽🧬 or 💩🧬 instead of intestine️🧬 to represent colon cancer would be confusing.

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liver has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to the liver, liver also represents the gallbladder and bile ducts; together they form the hepatobiliary system within a single generic character.

liver also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, 2.3 billion people on Earth have viral hepatitis [JM-18].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by abdomenstomachintestinepancreas, and replacing liver with abdomenstomachintestinepancreas would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by hepatobiliary disorders. For instance, using 🍺abdomen, 🍺stomach, &c. instead of 🍺liver️ to represent alcoholic liver disease or alcoholic cirrhosis would be confusing.

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pancreas has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

Although it represents only one organ, pancreas is both important and visually recognizable enough to warrant its own individual character.

pancreas represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures, in particular diabetes mellitus. These concepts are common; for instance, 8.5% of people on Earth has diabetes [ERFC-10].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by abdomenstomachintestineliver, and replacing liver with abdomenstomachintestinepancreas would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by hepatobiliary disorders. For instance, using 💉intestine, 💉liver, &c. instead of 💉pancreas️ to represent insulin injections would be confusing.

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Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji Against unification
kidney has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to the kidney, kidney also represents the ureter (together forming the upper urinary tract), as well as the adjacent adrenal gland, within a single generic character.

kidney also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, about five billion people have chronic kidney disease [MKT-15].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by abdomenbladder, and replacing kidney with abdomenbladder would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by renal disorders. For instance, using abdomen⚙️ or bladder⚙️ instead of kidney️⚙️ to represent dialysis would be confusing.

kidney and bladder could theoretically be combined into one “urinary system” emoji, but this would compromise both visual recognizability (“urinary system” would have a less definite graphical silhouette than those of the individually recognizable kidney and bladder) and semiotic usefulness (renal and lower-urinary disease are individually common and have dissimilar impacts on lives).

bladder has a unique color and visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to the bladder, bladder also represents the urethra, together forming the lower urinary tract within a single generic character.

bladder also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, urinary incontinence affects millions of people older than 65 in the US alone [DSP-20].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by abdomenkidney, and replacing bladder with abdomenkidney🚽 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by lower-urinary disorders. For instance, using kidney⬆️, abdomen⬆️, or 🚽⬆️ instead of bladder️⬆️ to represent urinary catherization would be confusing.

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uterus has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to the uterus, uterus also represents the ovaries, Fallopian tubes, and vagina, together forming the female reproductive tract within a single generic character.

uterus also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, abdominal hernias affects hundreds of thousands in the US alone [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by abdomenbladder🤰🩸, and replacing uterus with abdomenbladder🤰🩸 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by female pelvic disorders. For instance, using abdomen🩸️, bladder🩸️, or 🤰🩸️ instead of uterus️🩸️ to represent menstruation would be confusing, and using 🩸🧬 to represent cancer of the uterus/ovaries/&c. would also be confusing.

Not applicable.
Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji Against unification
prostate has a unique visual silhouette, when depicted with testes and cross-section of penis, and it is thus easily recognized.

In addition to the prostate gland, prostate also represents the testes, seminal vesicles, and penis, together forming the male reproductive tract within a single generic character.

prostate also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, at least half of men older than 50 have benign prostatic hyperplasia [BSJ-84].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by abdomenbladder, and replacing prostate with abdomenbladder would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by male pelvic disorders. For instance, using abdomen🎈bladder🎈 instead of prostate️🎈 to represent benign prostatic hyperplasia would be confusing.

Not applicable.
breast has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

Although it represents only one organ, breast is both important and visually recognizable enough to warrant its own individual character.

breast also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, at least one million people are diagnosed with breast cancer per year [JA-11].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by chestuterus🤱, and replacing kidney with chestuterus🤱 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by breast disorders. For instance, using chest💧, uterus💧, or 🤱💧 instead of breast️💧 to represent nipple discharge would be confusing.

chest and breast could theoretically be represented by combining chest with ♂ or ♀; mammary tissue would here be represented with ♀. However, neither male gender nor male sex imply absence of mammary tissue or breast disorders—many men have mammary tissue and breast disorders such as breast cancer [SAJ-93, NFQ-79, NCB-84]—and it is therefore inappropriate to represent mammary tissue by combining chest with ♀.

Emoji Multiple structures Common concepts Other emoji Against unification
muscle has a unique color and visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to muscles, muscle also represents tendons and dietary protein, together within a single generic character.

muscle also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, alcoholic myopathy affects at least 2% of people in the Western Hemisphere [PV-03], and around half of people with COVID-19 appear to experience diffuse muscle aching [HC-20].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🦴 (which represents skeletal structures and joints), 💪 🦵 (which represent skin and other soft tissues of specific body regions), or 🍖🥩 (which represent dietary animal meat), and replacing muscle with 🦴💪🦵🍖🥩 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by muscular disorders. For instance, using 🌱🦴, 🌱💪, or 🌱🦵 instead of 🌱muscle️ to represent plant protein would be confusing, and using 🍖🦠 or 🥩🦠 instead of muscle️🦠 to represent muscle infection would also be confusing.

Not applicable.
skin has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to skin, skin also represents adipose tissue and body hair, together within a single generic character.

skin also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, millions of people in the US alone visit emergency departments for acute skin and subcutaneous diseases [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by other characters that simply expose skin (e.g., 🧑🦵🦶💪✋neckchestabdomenback👂👃🧔🦰🦱🦲), and replacing skin with such characters would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by integumentary disorders. For instance, using 💪🎈 instead of skin️🎈 to represent hives and other skin swelling would be confusing.

Not applicable.
antibody has a unique visual silhouette, and it is easily recognized.

In addition to antibody proteins, antibody also represents white blood cells, lymph nodes and vessels, lymph, spleen, thymus, bone marrow, together forming the immune and lymphatic systems.

antibody also represents symptoms, inflammation, disorders, cancers, and interventions associated with these structures. These concepts are common; for instance, about 36.7 million people on Earth have HIV/AIDS [NCHS-17-EDST].

These structures and concepts are not adequately represented by 🦠💉, and replacing antibody with 🦠💉 would compromise semiotics for the large population affected by immune and lymphatic disorders. For instance, using 🦠⬇️ or 💉⬇️ instead of antibody️⬇️ to represent HIV/AIDS would be confusing.

Not applicable.

Completeness

As discussed in § Introduction, the Unicode Standard has already encoded emoji characters of several specific human body parts. These body parts include both external features of the human body (🦵🦶💪✋👂👃👄👀👁️🧔🦰🦱🦲) and several internal organs (🧠👅💀🦷🦴🩸, heart, and lungs). Members of the Unicode Consortium have already remarked on this gradual tendency to encode human body parts [L2/19-273].

The proposed emoji characters would fill large gaps among emoji characters. This may be demonstrated by considering the body’s different regions and its organ systems. These body regions and organ systems correspond to overlapping sets of specific organs, medical specialities, and medical conditions.

When the current repertoire of body-part emoji characters may be thus organized by body region and organ system, it becomes clear that there are large gaps. This is true even when allowing for unification of more-“specific” body parts with more-“generic” body parts, such as unifying arteries, veins, and capillaries with 🩸 blood (see § No open-endedness), or such as unifying the salivary glands with 👄 mouth and 👅 tongue.

Head

Cranium
💀🦲🦰🦱
Face
🧑
Eyes
👁️👀
Cheeks
🧑
Ear
👂
Nose
👃
Mouth
👄
Chin
🧑
Neck
neck

Anterior trunk

Chest
chest
Breast
breast
Abdomen
abdomen
Waist
abdomen
Pubes
abdomen
Groin
abdomen

Posterior trunk

Neck
neck
Upper back
back
Lower back
back

Upper limbs

Shoulder
💪chest
Armpit
chest
Upper arm
💪
Elbow
💪
Forearm
💪
Hand and wrist
✋

Lower limbs

Buttocks
back🦵
Thigh
🦵
Knee
🦵
Shin and calf
🦵
Foot and ankle
🦶

Cardiovascular

Heart
anatomical heart
Arteries
🩸
Veins
🩸
Capillaries
🩸
Blood
🩸

Respiratory

Nose
👃
Cranial sinuses
👃
Mouth
👄
Pharynx
neck
Larynx
necklungs
Trachea
lungs
Bronchi
lungs
Lungs
lungs
Diaphragm
lungsmuscle

Digestive

Teeth
🦷
Tongue
👅
Salivary glands
👄👅💦
Esophagus
stomach
Stomach
stomach
Small intestine
intestine
Large intestine
intestine
Rectum and anus
intestine
Liver
liver
Gallbladder
liver
Pancreas
pancreas

Urinary

Kidneys
kidney
Ureters
kidney
Urinary bladder
bladder
Urethra
bladder

Skeletal

Bones
💀🦴
Cartilage
💀🦴
Ligaments
💀🦴
Tendons
muscle

Muscular

Skeletal muscle
muscle
Smooth muscle
stomachintestine &c.
Cardiac muscle
heart

Integumentary

Skin
skin
Hair
skin🦰🦱🦲👱🧔
Fat
skin
Nails
skin💅

Endocrine

Hypothalamus
🧠
Pituitary gland
🧠
Pineal gland
🧠
Thyroid gland
thyroid
Parathyroid glands
thyroid
Adrenal glands
kidney
Ovaries
uterus
Testes
prostate

Reproductive

Ovaries
uterus
Fallopian tubes
uterus
Uterus
uterus
Vagina
uterus
Penis
prostate
Testes
prostate
Vas deferens
prostate
Seminal vesicles
prostate
Prostate gland
prostate
Mammary glands
breast

Lymphatic

Lymph
antibody💧
Lymph nodes
antibody💧
Lymph vessels
antibody💧
Spleen
antibody🩸abdomen
Thymus
antibodyneck
Tonsils
antibodyneck

Nervous

Brain
🧠
Spinal cord
back⚡️
Nerves
⚡️
Sensory organs
👁👀️👂👃👅

No over-specificity

All proposed emoji characters represent general concepts; none are overly specific. Each has been carefully chosen for visual uniqueness and recognizability, paradigmatic representation of multiple structures and concepts, and minimal mutual redundancy. For instance, the spleen is not visually distinct or recognizable to most laypeople, and it therefore is not proposed for encoding as a character (it may instead be represented by abdomen🩸antibody).

Each proposed character generically represents multiple specific structures and concepts. In addition, each character also more represents closely associated specific structures, as well as activities, symptoms, injury, infection, and other disorders associated with these structures, as discussed in § Multiple usages.

All of these concepts in general are common and prevalent, with large affected international populations who would find the proposed character useful, as discussed in § Stakeholder populations. These common and prevalent concepts are not adequately represented by other ostensibly similar characters, as discussed in § Breaking new ground and § Distinctiveness. In some cases, the proposed character could be theoretically unified with the other similar characters, but such a character would also compromise visual distinctiveness and recognizability.

No open-endedness

The set of body parts—both body regions and internal organs—is closed. Indeed, it is a goal of this proposal, as much as is practical to do so, to make further encoding of body parts unnecessary.

Avoiding open-endedness was a special consideration when deciding how to encode blood vessels, nerves (and the spinal cord), and the immune/lymphatic system. Millions of people are affected by these body parts’ numerous conditions, but they provide a unique challenge: they are diffusely distributed throughout the body, with few macroscopic entities that may recognizably represent them for laypeople:

  1. If a blood-vessel character were encoded, then would be no special reason why lymph vessels should not also be encoded; justifications to encoding a character for blood vessels would also apply to lymph vessels. Yet encoding both would compromise both characters’ distinctiveness.
  2. Likewise, nerves are most recognizable as neurons (which have already been previously proposed [L2/17-113]). If a neuron character were encoded, then why not encode characters for many other recognizable types of human cells, such as red blood cells? Such open-endedness is problematic.
  3. If the immune/lymphatic system is represented by white blood cells, a problem similar to that of neurons occurs.

These problems were resolved by representing blood vessels by 🩸, nerves by ⚡️ (and the spinal cord by back⚡️), and the immune/lymphatic system by antibody. Unlike white blood cells, antibody is not simply one type of cell out of many; it is a common and recognizable type of molecule, similar to 🧬.

This solution is a compromise; for instance, a person affected by Guillain–Barré syndrome may find ⚡️antibody️ suboptimal to represent their condition. In the future, the Emoji Subcommittee might therefore find characters for neurons, blood vessels, &c. appropriate to encode. However, this proposal’s compromise solution is “good enough” for now, already covering perhaps all of the body’s diseases (see § Completeness).

No existing representation

Each proposed emoji character has been carefully chosen for minimal redundancy with existing emoji characters. No current existing character can adequately represent the concepts represented by each proposed character. For more information, see § Breaking new ground.

Suitability for encoding

As there seems to be a move towards encoding emoji for all important human organs (we already have eye, ear, nose, mouth and tongue), I wonder whether the [Unicode Consortium] can any longer justify not encoding emoji for human sexual organs? [L2/19-273].

It is anticipated that the inclusion of uterus, prostate, and breast may raise objections from some stakeholders for depicting sexual organs, perhaps out of concern that their encoding would encourage cultural prurience or prematurely expose children to sexual concepts. Nevertheless, enormous populations of people are affected by serious medical disorders of these organs, as reviewed in § Stakeholder populations. For instance, as many as half of all men older than 50 years old have benign prostatic hyperplasia [BSJ-84]; as many as 68% of women experience mastalgia in their lifetimes [ADN-01]; millions of people worldwide are diagnosed with cancers of the uterus, prostate gland, and breast each year [JA-11].

The benefit for those populations of encoding these characters—as well as their expected frequencies of use—would be great. In order to allay concerns regarding their association with sexuality, the characters are depicted here as clinical, anatomical illustrations, in an effort to encourage tasteful use. It is also noted that the absence of does not prevent emoji representation of sexual concepts (which is already performed with many already-encoded emoji characters), but the absence of does hinder emoji representation of their medical disorders and diseases for billions of affected people.

No proposed emoji character contains logos, brands, UI icons, signage, specific people, specific landmarks, or deities.

No transience

All proposed emoji characters depict or represent structures, conditions, and experiences that have been universal to the human condition—and, indeed, to animal organisms in general—over vast periods of time. Even when the worldwide disruption by COVID-19 diminishes, other disease will unfortunately continue to affect billions of people. The proposed characters are not transient fads; their usefulness and usage would almost certainly continue into the future indefinitely.

No faulty comparison

All proposed emoji characters are presented by their own merits, each based primarily on its respectively large expected frequency of use (see § Frequency: Web resources, § Google Trends, and § Stakeholder populations). None is being justified primarily by being similar to (or more important than) existing compatibility emoji.

Image variability

No proposed emoji character requires an exact image. Several visual guidelines for their iconography are proposed below, but they are only guidelines for optimizing visual recognizability and mutual distinguishability.

Emoji Overview Features Color
neck

neck must recognizably depict an anterior external view of a gender-neutral human’s neck. The visual position must not be predominantly posterior, to prevent visual confusion with back; it should be a symmetrical anterior external view with raised chin. However, the precise kinematic and visual position may be varied by the artist (e.g., an anterolateral view is acceptable).

Features of the neck, including the mental prominence, larynx, sternocleidomastoid muscles, and clavicles, are optional but should also be depicted.

Without a skin-tone modifier character, the artwork must depict an unrealistic (e.g., yellow) skin tone. Skin tone may be varied in the same manner as other emoji characters: by combining with skin-tone modifier characters.

chest

chest must recognizably depict an anterior external view of a gender-neutral human’s chest and shoulders. The visual position must not be predominantly anterior, to prevent visual confusion with neckchestabdomen; it should be a symmetrical anterior external view with shoulders symmetrically adducted. However, the precise kinematic and visual position may be varied by the artist (e.g., a posterolateral view is acceptable).

Gender-neutral features of the chest, including the sternum, pectoralis major muscles, and shoulders, are optional but should also be depicted. If ribs or nipples are also depicted, they should not be more visually prominent than the previously listed features. Visually prominent breasts should not be depicted, in order to prevent visual confusion with breast.

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abdomen

abdomen must recognizably depict an anterior external view of all four quadrants of a gender-neutral human’s abdomen. The visual position must not be predominantly posterior, to prevent visual confusion with back; it should be a symmetrical anterior external view with raised chin. However, the precise kinematic and visual position may be varied by the artist (e.g., an anterolateral view is acceptable).

The umbilicus, flanks, waist, and hips must be depicted; the umbilicus must be especially prominent, including at small image sizes. Other features of the abdomen, particularly the iliac crests, rectus abdominis muscle, abdominal external oblique muscle, mons pubis, and inguinal folds may also be depicted; if musculature, fat, or folds are depicted, then they should be visually subtle and less prominent than the umbilicus.

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Emoji Overview Features Color
back

back must recognizably depict a posterior external view of the thoracic and lumbar regions of a gender-neutral human’s abdomen. The visual position must be predominantly posterior, to prevent visual confusion with neckchestabdomen; it should be a symmetrical posterior view with symmetrically adducted shoulders. However, the precise kinematic and visual position may be varied by the artist (e.g., an anterolateral view is acceptable).

The vertebral column, latissimus dorsi muscles, scapulae, trapezius muscle, and deltoid muscles of the shoulder must be depicted. Other features of the back, including the sternum, pectoralis major muscles, and shoulders, are optional but should also be depicted. The posterior region of the neck should not be depicted, in order to prevent visual confusion with neck.

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thyroid

thyroid must recognizably depict an anterior, symmetrical view of the human thyroid gland. The view must not be a cross-section.

The thyroid gland’s two lobes and isthmus must be depicted in isolation. The parathyroid glands must not be explicitly depicted, as they are embedded in the posterior of the thyroid gland. The larynx and trachea must not be depicted, in order to prevent visual confusion with necklungs. Blood vessels also should not be depicted.

The thyroid should be homogeneously pink or red hued; the color may be pale or saturated but must not be dark.

stomach

stomach must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human stomach, distal esophagus, and proximal duodenum. The view should not be cross-sectional.

The stomach’s fundus, body, and antrum must be depicted, as well as the distal esophagus and proximal duodenum. Other parts of the duodenum should not be depicted, in order to avoid visual confusion with intestine. Blood vessels should not be depicted.

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Emoji Overview Features Color
intestine

intestine must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human small intestine, large intestine, and rectum. The view should not be cross-sectional.

The cecal pouch, ileocecal junction, colonic hepatic flexure, colonic splenic flexure, and rectum must be depicted. The colon must not be completely smooth; its haustra must be visible and its teniae coli should be visible. Its appendix should also be visible. The rectum should extend at the midline below the cecum.

The small intestine must be depicted as folded into multiple loops, but there must not be any portion of the small intestine that is visible isolated from the rest of the tract. Blood vessels, the omenta, and the rest of the peritoneum should not be depicted.

The small intestine and the colon–rectum must be differently colored. The small intestine should be homogeneously pink or red hued; the color may be pale or saturated but must not be dark. The colon–rectum should be homogeneously gray-red-purple.

liver

liver must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human liver and gallbladder. The view must not be cross-sectional. The angle of the liver’s left lobe (which is on the viewer’s right side) must point towards the viewer’s right. The liver should be slightly pitched upward such that more of the gallbladder can be exposed to the viewer.

The left and right hepatic lobes must both be depicted. The left lobe (which is on the viewer’s right side) must be smaller and flatter than the right lobe (which is on the viewer’s left side). The right lobe’s surface must be visibly convex, and its angle must point downward.

The falciform ligament, common hepatic duct, cystic duct, and common bile duct should also be visible. The gallbladder should be pear-shaped, narrowing in diameter towards the viewer’s right side.

The gallbladder must be visually prominent; its size may have exaggeratedly large. The common bile duct must not be less thick than the other bile ducts; the bile ducts may generally have exaggerated diameters. Blood vessels, the lesser omentum, and the peritoneum should not be depicted.

The liver should be homogeneously deep reddish brown, close to the RGB color #6C2E1F. The gallbladder and bile ducts should be colored yellow-green—although the actual color of healthy biliary structures may vary, they are most frequently depicted and most recognizable as yellow-green.

Emoji Overview Features Color
pancreas

pancreas must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human pancreas. The view must not be cross-sectional.

The head, body, and tail of the pancreas must be depicted, from viewer’s left to viewer’s right. The organ should be subtly lobulated without distracting from its silhouette. The head of the pancreas should slightly curl and hook behind the body. The body should curl slightly downward; the tail should curl slightly upwards and taper at about 30°. Blood vessels and the pancreatic ducts should not be depicted.

The pancreas should be homogeneously yellowish–salmon pink.

kidney

kidney must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human kidney, proximal ureter, and adrenal gland. The view should not be cross-sectional.

The kidney must be bean-shaped, with its convex and concave border at its sides, and with its poles pointing upward and downward. The hilum at its concave border should face towards the viewer’s right; the ureter emerging from it should be proximally thick and rapidly tapering as it bends downward. The adrenal gland should be relatively small, roughly pyramidal, and visibly lobulated. Blood vessels, the renal capsule, and the peritoneum should not be depicted.

The kidney should be homogeneously dark red. The ureter should be homogeneously pale pink-yellow. The adrenal gland should be homogeneously yellow.

bladder

bladder must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human urinary bladder and urethra. The view should be cross-sectional through the bladder in a coronal plane, and it should be symmetrical. The urethra must face downward.

The bladder’s fundus, body, and neck must be depicted. The bladder should be partially full with urine but may be empty; it should not be completely full. If the bladder is empty, the trigone should be depicted. The bladder wall’s interior rugae may also be depicted; if they are, they must be visually subtle. The proximal urethra should also be depicted. The distal ureters should also be visible behind and at the sides of the bladder. The kidneys, prostate gland, uterus, and external genitals must not be depicted. Blood vessels and the peritoneum should not be depicted.

The bladder-wall cross-section should be pale pink. The ureters should be homogeneously pale pink-yellow. The urine should be pale yellow-brown.

Emoji Overview Features Color
uterus

chest must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human uterus, Fallopian tubes, vagina, and ovaries. The view must be in a coronal plane, and it should be cross-sectional through the uterus and vagina.

The uterine wall, cervix, cervical cavity, body cavity, uterine tubes, and ovarian ligaments should be depicted. The uterine cavities must be empty. Blood vessels and other parts of the endopelvic fascia should not be depicted.

The uterine wall should be homogeneously pale pink; the inner cavity surfaces should be darker red; the ovaries should be very pale pink-purple.

prostate

prostate must recognizably depict an anterior view of the human prostate gland, vas deferens, human testes, and penis. The view must be in a coronal plane, and it should be cross-sectional through the prostate gland and penis, revealing the urethral lumen.

The two corpora cavernosa—and the corpus spongiosum between them—should be depicted within the penis cross-section. The urethra should be visible extending through the prostate gland and corpus spongiosum. The trabeculae of the corpora may be depicted. Skin and blood vessels should not be depicted.

The artwork’s exterior should be homogeneously white-pink-purple.

breast

breast must recognizably depict a cross-sectional, sagittal view of the human breast.

The skin, fatty tissue, nipple, lactiferous ducts, and mammary glands must be depicted; the pectoralis muscles, intercostal muscles, and ribs should be depicted. The mammary glands and fatty tissue should both be visibly lobulated but must be visually distinct from one another, as well as from the ducts and skin. If ribs are visible, they may be depicted with trabeculae and pores. Blood vessels should not be depicted.

The fatty tissue must be yellow-orange. The lactiferous ducts should be pale pink–yellow. The mammary glands should be pink or red. If they are depicted, the chest-wall muscles must be red and the ribs must be gray.

Without a skin-tone modifier character, the skin must have an unrealistic (e.g., yellow) skin tone. Skin tone may be varied in the same manner as other emoji characters: by combining with skin-tone modifier characters.

Emoji Overview Features Color
muscle

muscle must recognizably depict an idealized fusiform skeletal muscle between two tendons. It should not be cross-sectional.

The body of the muscle should be visibly divided into fascicles by perimysium. Blood vessels should not be depicted.

The muscle should be deeply red, with white-pink tendons.

skin

skin must recognizably depict a cross-sectional view of idealized human epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous fat.

The epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous fat must be visibly distinct from one another. The dermal papillae must be visible. At least one hair and hair follicle should also be depicted; arrector-pili muscle, sebaceous glands, sweat glands, and sweat pores may be subtly visible. Blood vessels and nerve endings should not be depicted.

Without a skin-tone modifier character, the epidermis, hair, and hair follicle must have an unrealistic (e.g., yellow) color. The color of the epidermis, hair, and hair follicle may be varied in the same manner as other emoji characters: by combining with skin-tone modifier characters.

The dermis should be pink, orange, or yellow. The subcutaneous fat must be yellow.

antibody

antibody must recognizably depict an abstract diagram of a single antibody monomer, unbound from any antigen. The antibody monomer should face leftward and upward to facilitate its “application” to preceding emoji characters (e.g., 🦠antibody).

The antibody monomer should be depicted with two visually distinct heavy chains, each attached to one another and to one distinct light chain.

The antibody monomer may be depicted with any color.

Citations

FDI-15
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. Farlex. .
L2/09-026
Scherer, Markus et al. Emoji Symbols Proposed for New Encoding. .
L2/16-260
Jones, Craig; BeardEmoji. Beard Emoji Submission. .
L2/17-011
Burge, Jeremy; Unicode Consortium Emoji Subcommittee. Summary of options for redhead emoji. .
L2/17-246
Solomon, Jane; Baker, Cody. Proposal for the Bone Emoji. .
L2/17-259
Unicode Consortium Emoji Subcommittee et al. Body Parts Emoji Proposal. .
L2/18-092
Thermidor, Melissa et al. Blood Drop Emoji Proposal. .
L2/19-149
Kamkoff, Christian et al. Proposal for Emoji: LUNG. .
L2/19-150
Kamkoff, Christian et al. Proposal for Emoji: HEART (ORGAN). .
L2/19-273
Moore, Lisa. Emoji Comments. .
MGH-02
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. McGraw-Hill Companies. .
MGH-05
McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions. McGraw-Hill Companies. .
MGRS-14
McGregor, R. S. The Oxford Hindi English Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Companies. , .
NCHS-17-AUI
National Center for Health Statistics Accidents or Unintentional Injuries. FastStats. .
NSCISC-19
National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Figures at a Glance. .
OU-13
现代汉语规范词典 / The Standard Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese. Oxford University Press. , .
OU-19-NOAD
New Oxford American Dictionary. Oxford University Press. , .
OU-19-OAD
Oxford Arabic Dictionary. Oxford University Press. , .
UCES-19-EEP
Unicode Consortium Emoji Subcommittee. Emoji Encoding Principles. .
UCES-19-F
Unicode Consortium Emoji Subcommittee. Emoji Frequency. .
UCES-20-SEP
Unicode Consortium Emoji Subcommittee. Submitting Emoji Proposals. .
UNAIDS-17
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS Data . .
WN-06
WordNet 3.0. Princeton University. .
WHO-CRC
World Health Organization Chronic rheumatic conditions. Chronic diseases and health promotion. Accessed on .

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