Name: Alaa Abdulrahman Aljama

Group: Gmm5-22s/3rd semester

Anatomy of the ear

The ear, organ of hearing and equilibrium that detects

and analyzes sound by transduction (or the conversion of
sound waves into electrochemical impulses) and
maintains the sense of balance (equilibrium)
The ear serves two distinct functions: hearing and
postural equilibrium. Anatomically, it comprises three
parts: the outer ear, including the visible auricle and the
auditory canal, guides sound waves to the eardrum. The
middle ear, an air-filled cavity, contains three small
bones (malleus, incus, stapes) transmitting sound to the
inner ear. The inner ear, known as the labyrinth, consists
of the vestibular apparatus for equilibrium and the
cochlea for hearing. These structures are connected to
the eighth cranial nerve, also known as the
vestibulocochlear nerve. The intricate system is located
within the temporal bone, emphasizing the ear's dual
role in hearing and maintaining balance.
The outer ear :

The outer ear, particularly the auricle, exhibits notable

distinctions between human ears and those of other
mammals. In humans, the auricle is a relatively
rudimentary and typically immobile structure, forming a
shallow funnel close to the side of the head. Composed of
thin yellow elastic cartilage covered by closely adherent
skin, the auricle features defined hollows, ridges, and
furrows. The concha, the deepest depression leading to
the external auditory canal, is partly covered by the
tragus and antitragus projections. The helix, a prominent
ridge, continues as the incurved rim of the upper auricle,
while the antihelix, a concentric ridge, surrounds the
concha. Darwin's tubercle, a vestigial feature, may be
present in some ears. The lobule, the fleshy lower part,
lacks cartilage. Small rudimentary muscles, connecting
the auricle to the skull and scalp, are generally
nonfunctional, though some individuals can voluntarily
activate them. The external auditory canal, a slightly
curved tube, extends from the concha floor to the
tympanic membrane. Its outer third comprises cartilage,
and its inner two-thirds are bone. The canal, 24 mm in
length, is lined with skin containing fine hairs and
modified sweat glands producing cerumen, which helps
prevent the entry of insects.
The middle ear
The cavity of the middle ear is a narrow air-filled space.
A slight constriction divides it into an upper and a lower
chamber, the tympanum (tympanic cavity) proper below
and the epitympanum above. These chambers are also
referred to as the atrium and the attic, respectively. The
middle-ear space roughly resembles a rectangular room
with four walls, a floor, and a ceiling. The outer (lateral)
wall of the middle-ear space is formed by the tympanic
membrane. The ceiling (superior wall) is a thin plate of
bone that separates the middle-ear cavity from the
cranial cavity and brain above. The floor (inferior wall) is
also a thin bony plate, in this case separating the middle-
ear cavity from the jugular vein and the carotid
artery below. The back (posterior) wall partly separates
the middle-ear cavity from another cavity, the mastoid
antrum, but an opening in this wall leads to the antrum
and to the small air cells of the mastoid process, which is
the roughened, slightly bulging portion of
the temporal bone just behind the external auditory
canal and the auricle. In the front (anterior) wall is the
opening of the eustachian tube (or auditory tube), which
connects the middle ear with the nasopharynx. The inner
(medial) wall, which separates the middle ear from
the inner ear, or labyrinth, is a part of the bony otic
capsule of the inner ear. It has two small openings, or
fenestrae, one above the other. The upper one is the oval
window, which is closed by the footplate of the stapes.
The lower one is the round window, which is covered by
a thin membrane.

Auditory ossicles
Crossing the middle-ear cavity is the short ossicular
chain formed by three tiny bones that link the tympanic
membrane with the oval window and inner ear. From the
outside inward they are the malleus (hammer),
the incus (anvil), and the stapes (stirrup). The malleus
more closely resembles a club than a hammer, and the
incus looks more like a premolar tooth with uneven roots
than an anvil. These bones are suspended by ligaments,
which leave the chain free to vibrate in
transmitting sound from the tympanic membrane to the
inner ear.
Nerves :

The seventh cranial nerve, called the facial nerve, passes

by a somewhat circuitous route through the facial canal
in the petrous portion of the temporal bone on its way
from the brainstem to the muscles of expression of
the face. A small but important branch, the chorda
tympani nerve, emerges from the canal into the middle-
ear cavity and runs forward along the inner surface of
the pars tensa of the membrane, passing between the
handle of the malleus and the long process of the incus.
Since at this point it is covered only by the tympanic
mucous membrane, it appears to be quite bare. Then it
resumes its course through the anterior bony wall,
bringing sensory fibres for taste to the anterior two-
thirds of the tongue and parasympathetic secretory
fibres to salivary glands.

The Inner ear:

There are actually two labyrinths of the inner ear, one

inside the other, the membranous labyrinth contained
within the bony labyrinth. The bony labyrinth consists of
a central chamber called the vestibule, the three
semicircular canals, and the spirally coiled cochlea.
Within each structure, and filling only a fraction of the
available space, is a corresponding portion of the
membranous labyrinth: the vestibule contains the utricle
and saccule, each semicircular canal its semicircular
duct, and the cochlea its cochlear duct. Surrounding the
membranous labyrinth and filling the remaining space is
the watery fluid called perilymph. It is derived
from blood plasma and resembles but is not identical
with the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain and the aqueous
humour of the eye. Like most of the hollow organs, the
membranous labyrinth is lined with epithelium (a sheet
of specialized cells that covers internal and external
body surfaces). It is filled with a fluid called endolymph,
which has a markedly different ionic content from
perilymph. Because the membranous labyrinth is a
closed system, the endolymph and perilymph do not mix.

Vestibular system
The vestibular system is the apparatus of the inner ear
involved in balance. It consists of two structures of the
bony labyrinth, the vestibule and the semicircular canals,
and the structures of the membranous labyrinth
contained within them.