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14 views30 pages

Wa0007.

Uploaded by

ngovenimeshomarcia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Ear

LESSON PREPARED BY:


LIFE SCIENTIST: J. NKOSI
Structure and function
 The ear consists
of three regions:

 Outer ear

 Middle ear

 Inner ear
Outer ear
 Consists of the
cartilaginous
pinna and an Pinna
auditory
canal Auditory
Functions of the outer ear
 The pinna directs sound waves
through the auditory canal to the
tympanic membrane
 The auditory canal directs sound
waves to the tympanic
membrane.
 Cerumen (wax) and hairs in the
auditory canal prevents small
organisms from entering the EAR
 Wax also prevents the tympanic
membrane from drying out
Middle ear
 Is an air filled cavity
within the skull.
 It is separated from
the outer ear by the
tympanic
membrane
 It is separated from Tympanic
the inner ear by the membrane

oval window and


the round window
Structure of the middle ear
Middel ear cont…
 Within the inner ear there are three
small bones (ossicles) i.e. hammer
(malleus), anvil (incus), and the stirrup
(stapes).
 The hammer is attached to the oval
window; the anvil lies between the
hammer and the stirrup
 The middle ear is connected to the
pharynx by the Eustachean tube.
Functions of the middle ear
 Tympanic membrane vibrates and
transmits sound waves to the middle
ear
 The ossicles transmit vibrations from
the tympanic membrane to the inner
ear
 The Eustachean tube maintains equal
pressure on either side of the tympanic
membrane
 The oval window transmits vibrations
of the ossicles into the inner ear
 The round window absorbs the
pressure set up in the inner ear
Inner ear
 Is a fluid filled cavity made up of the bony
labyrinth and a membranous labyrinth
 The bony labyrinth has three parts:
 Semicircular canals
 Vestibule (sacculus & utriculus)
membranous
labyrinth
 Cochlea
 Bony labyrinth is filles with perilymph
 Membraneous labyrinth is filled with
endolymph
Structure of the inner ear

Semicircular canals Vestibular


nerve

Cochlear
nerve

Oval window

Cochlea

Round window
Functions of the inner ear
 The semicircular canals,
sacculus and utriculus are
connected with balance and
equilibrium.
 The cochlea ccontains the organ
of Corti which converts the
stimulus of sound into impulses
 The auditory nerve transmits
sound impulses to the brain
(Cerebrum)
Functioning of the ear

Main functions:

Hearing

balance
Hearing
Path of Sound
Pinna Auditory canal
Tympanic membrane
Hammer Anvil Stirrup
Oval window
Perilymph Organ of Corti
Auditory Nerve Brain
Balance
 Sudden changes in speed and direction causes the
endolymph within the semicircular canals to
move
 The movement of the fluid stimulates the cristae
in the ampullae – situated at the base of the
semi circular canal
 When the direction of the head changes,
gravitational pull stimulates maculae – in the
sacculus and utriculus
 Within the cristae and maculae the stimuli is
converted to impulses
 These impulses are sent to the brain by the
vestibular branch of the auditory nerve to the
cerebellum for interpretation to restore balance
Adaptations
 Pinna it’s large and traps sound waves
 Cerumen and hairs prevents small
organisms from entering the ear
 Cerumen prevents the tympanic
membrane from drying out
 Hammer transmits vibrations from the
eardrum to the anvil then stirrup.
 Stirrup transmits vibrations to the
oval window into the inner ear
 Eustachean tube allows air to move
in and out of the middle ear, thus
maintaining equal pressure on either side of
the tympanic membrane
Adaptations cont…
 Organ of Corti picks up stimuli
of sound waves
 Auditory nerve transmits sound
impulses to the cerebrum
Cause & treatment of hearing
defects
 Middle ear infections:
 Caused by viruses and bacteria that cause
common cold, influenza, measles and
mumps
 They cause inflammation of the middle ear
 The fluid caused by the infection makes the
eustachean tube to be swollen,
inflamed and clogged
 Increasing pressure on either side of the
tympanic membrane – ear ache
Cont..
 Treatment:
 Successful treatment with
medication
 Grommets are sometimes used to
bypass the eustachean tube and
allow air to continuosly enter the
middle ear
Deafness
 People hard who have difficulty
hearing are said to experience
hearing loss or hard of hearing
or are hearing impaired
 Causes of hearing loss:
 It is due the fluid in the
middle ear
 Injury to the parts of the ear,
 Ageing process or
 Nerves and parts of the brain
Cont…
 Not all the cases of hearing loss
can be treated.

 Treatment:
 Medication
 Drainage of the middle ear
 Hearing aids
 Cochlea implants
Hearing aids
 Difficulty of hearing may be
caused by damage to the hairs in
the cochlea
 Which may be due to diseases,
ageing, or injury from noise, or
certain medicine
 In such cases, hearing aids may
help in amplifying the sound for a
person affected to communicate
and participate fully in daily
activities
 A Hearing aid has three parts:
 Microphone – receives sound
waves and converts them into
electrical impulses
Cont..
 Amplifier – recieves electrical impulses
from the microphone and increases
the power of the signals
 Speaker- receives the amplified sound
from the amplifier
 Therefore the hearing aid magnifies
the sound vibrations which the
surviving hair cells can detect and
convert to nerve impulses
Cochlear implants
 Some people are hard of
hearing or deaf
 Cochlear implants (bionic
ear) are implanted into their
ears.
 It is an electrical device
 They work by directly
stimulating any functioning
auditory nerve inside the
cochlea with an electric field
LESSON PREPARED BY:
LIFE SCIENTIST: J. NKOSI

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