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Timpanic Membrane
In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped biological membrane, membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear, and then to the oval window in the fluid-filled cochlea. Hence, it ultimately converts and amplifies vibration in the air to vibration in cochlear fluid. The malleus bone bridges the gap between the eardrum and the other ossicles. Rupture or perforation of the eardrum can lead to conductive hearing loss. Collapse or tympanic membrane retraction, retraction of the eardrum can cause conductive hearing loss or cholesteatoma. Structure Orientation and relations The tympanic membrane is oriented obliquely in the anatomical terms of location, anteroposterior, mediolateral, and superoinferior planes. Consequently, its superoposterior end lies lateral to its anteroinferior end. Anatom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Round Window
The round window is one of the two openings from the middle ear into the inner ear. It is sealed by the secondary tympanic membrane (round window membrane), which vibrates with opposite phase to vibrations entering the inner ear through the oval window. It allows fluid in the cochlea to move, which in turn ensures that hair cells of the basilar membrane will be stimulated and that audition will occur. Structure The round window is situated below (inferior to) and a little behind (posterior to) the oval window, from which it is separated by a rounded elevation, the promontory. It is located at the bottom of a funnel-shaped depression (the round window niche) and, in the macerated bone, opens into the cochlea of the internal ear; in the fresh state it is closed by a membrane, the secondary tympanic membrane (Latin: ''membrana tympani secundaria'', or ''membrana fenestrae cochleae'') or round window membrane, which is a complex saddle point shape. The visible central portion is conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |