Collects sound waves and
channel them down the
auditory channel
Vibration of the
tympanic membrane
Middle ear
Auditory ossicles
Malleus
Sound waves traveling
through air must be
converted into pressure
waves in fluid.
When the sound waves move the tympanic
membrane, the chain of ossicles also moves,
pushing the footplate of the stapes into the
oval window and displaces the fluid in the
cochlea
Incus
Stapes
Inner ear
Sensory
organ
Cochlea
3 coiled
tubes
Scala vestibuli
Contains perilymph
Scala media
Contains
endolymph
Scala
tympani
Contains
perilymph
Reissner's membrane
Basilar
membrane
Organ of Corti
lies on it
Inner hair
cells
Outer hair
cells
Helicotrema
Point of communication
between the scala vestibuli
and scala tympani. Scala
media does not communicate
with these two scala.
Tympanic
membrane
Separates
external ear from
internal ear
Pearly gray and
translucent, with a
sharp light reflex
and bony landmarks