Ear page 1

Contents

Yves Clermont, Michael Lalli, Zsuzsanna Bencsath-Makkai
LIGHT-MICROSCOPIC HISTOLOGY ATLAS

17. Ear

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17.1 Ear

Version française

The external auditory canal terminates at the tympanic membrane (left). Deeper, the air space of the middle ear, occupied by the ossicles (incus, malleus and stapes), is continuous with the Eustachian tube, which opens into the nasopharynx.

The inner ear presents three interconnected cavities in the bone: the vestibule, the semicircular canals and the cochlea, which contain perilymph. Suspended in this bony labyrinth, the membranous labyrinth contains endolymph.

The vestibule is composed of two membranous structures: the utricle and the saccule connected by the utriculosaccular duct. The utricle and saccule each have a sensory plaque, or macula, that senses the position of the head.

The utricle is continuous with the three semicircular tubules, each having an ampulla associated with a crista. These cristae sense the movements of the endolymph within the semicircular ducts.

The saccule is connected to the cochlear duct, which reaches the tip of the cochlea. The organ of Corti, which is sensitive to sound, is a ribbonlike structure that extends along the cochlear duct.

The text and images of this Histology Atlas, by Yves Clermont, Michael Lalli & Zsuzsanna Bencsath-Makkai, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada Licence and cannot be modified without the written permission of the authors. Use of any text or images must carry an acknowledgement which includes a link to the original work.