The Ear

HS834: The
ear
Analisa Marie Pais
With thanks to Maria Miranda Rivera
The ear
• Divided into three areas
• Outer ear
• Middle ear
• Inner ear
• Effective functioning of these areas is

essential for normal hearing
• Auditory nervous system must be intact

for sound to be transferred and
interpreted
Regions of the ear
Outer ear: structures and
functions
• Auricle (pinna)
– Most visible part of the ear
– Acts as funnel and directs sound further into the ear
– Helps localize sound
– Conchae: Resonating cavity
• Ear canal (external auditory meatus)

– From concha to eardrum
– Transmits sound from the pinna to the eardrum
– 1/3rd cartilaginous, 2/3rd bony meatus
– Resonating cavity
• Tympanic membrane (eardrum)
Tympanic
membrane
• Tympanic membrane (eardrum) – thin,
elastic, flattened-cone shaped membrane
• At the end of the auditory canal
• Three layered tissue comprising an
external epithelial lining of the outer ear
canal, a think fibrous tissue in between
and an internal mucosal epithelial lining
of the middle ear.
• Vibrates in response to pressure from
sound waves
• Easily damaged*
What could cause damage to the TM?
Middle ear – structures and
functions
• Air filled cavity
• Between eardrum (tympanic membrane) and oval
window
• Ossicular chain
• Malleus (hammer)
• Incus (anvil)
• Stapes (stirrup) (4mg)
• Eustachian tube
• Oval and round windows

• Ossicular Chain (bones of the middle
ear)
• Transmits sound efficiently and with no
distortion
• Amplifies incoming sound before
transmitting it into the fluid in the inner
ear
• Oval and round windows – two

openings to the cochlea in the inner
ear
- Foot plate of stapes embedded in oval
window
- Round window sealed by the secondary
TM
Eustachian Tube
(auditory/
pharyngotympanic
tube)
• Connects middle ear to nasopharynx
• Aeration— bringing O2 to the middle ear
• Maintain equal air pressure within and
outside the middle ear
• Can allow germs and infections to
spread into the middle ear -> hearing
problems*
Inner ear
• Houses sensors for balance
(vestibular system) and hearing
(cochlea)
• Inner ear receives mechanical

vibrations of sound through the
movement of the stapes in the oval
window Two major structures: semicircular
canals and cochlea
(Roseberry-McKibbin, Hedge, 2016, Seikel et al, 2010)

The cochlea
• Small fluid filled spiral in the temporal bone
• Sound waves transmitted from the oval

window are transmitted to the fluid in the
cochlea
• Basilar membrane – tissue within the

cochlea containing thousands of cilia (hair
cells) which respond to sound
• Turn movement into electrical signals
• Electrical signal travels along auditory nerve

to the brain where messages are
interpreted as sounds that we recognise
Semicircular canals
• Part of the vestibular system
• Vestibular system – provides sense of balance
and information about the body’s position
• Responsible for equilibrium
• Three fluid filled tubes
• Contain hair cells that detect movement in

the fluid and send impulses to the brain
• Brain decodes this and helps body keep its
balance
Let’s take
a tour of
the ear!
Physiology of Hearing- Video
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46aNGGNPm7s&list=PL929D317C
1281E05B
Hearing summary (watch during self-study time)
Clinical note
Can you think of any conditions relating to the ear and its relevance to SLT?
Clinical note
• Hearing impairment – damage to one or more parts of the ear.
• Most common cause in children is otitis media (ear infection in the middle ear), commonly
associated with with upper respiratory infection e.g. cold
• Malformations of the pinna (e.g., apasia, microtia), or the EAM (e.g., atresia, stenosis)
• Vertigo – feeling of dizziness or whirling in space
• Tinnitus – ringing sound in the ears can result as consequence to loud noise exposure,
medications, wax build-up or varies disturbances of the auditory nerve
• What do you think would be the role of the SLT working with children with hearing impairment?

The Ear

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HS834: The

• Effective functioning of these areas is

• Auditory nervous system must be intact

• Ear canal (external auditory meatus)

• Oval and round windows

• Oval and round windows – two

• Inner ear receives mechanical

(Roseberry-McKibbin, Hedge, 2016, Seikel et al, 2010)

• Sound waves transmitted from the oval

• Basilar membrane – tissue within the

• Electrical signal travels along auditory nerve

• Responsible for equilibrium

• Three fluid filled tubes

• Contain hair cells that detect movement in

• Vertigo – feeling of dizziness or whirling in space

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