The middle ear is the air-filled cavity within the skull of vertebrates that lies between the outer ear and the inner ear. It is linked to the pharynx (and therefore to outside air) via the Eustachian tube and in mammals contains the three ear ossicles, which transmit auditory vibrations from the outer ear (via the tympanum) to the inner ear (via the oval window)[GO]. [ http://amigo.geneontology.org/amigo/term/GO:0042474 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_ear ]
Term information
- MESH:D004432
- GAID:165
- NCIT:C12274
- FMA:56513
- AAO:0011065
- XAO:0000191
- EMAPA:17000
- UMLS:C1268972 (BIRNLEX:1695)
- MA:0000253
- EV:0100357
- EHDAA2:0001181
- VHOG:0000312
- UMLS:C0013455 (ncithesaurus:Middle_Ear)
- SCTID:181185000
- BTO:0002099
- MIAA:0000146
- BIRNLEX:1695
- MAT:0000146
- CALOHA:TS-2233
- Wikipedia:Middle_ear
- EHDAA:5693
uberon_slim, pheno_slim
The intermediate portion of the ear which consists of a small air-filled and membrane-lined chamber. It is lodged in the temporal bone and continues with the nasopharynx through the Eustachian tube. It is separated from the external ear by the tympanic membrane and from the inner ear by the fenestrae. [Dorian_AF, Elsevier's_encyclopaedic_dictionary_of_medicine, Part_B:_Anatomy_(1988)_Amsterdam_etc.:_Elsevier][VHOG]
The tympanic cavity and auditory tube of an amniote develop from the first embryonic pharyngeal pouch, so they are homologous to the first gill pouch, or spiracle, of a fish. We are uncertain whether this homology strictly applies to the middle ear cavity and auditory tube of lissamphibians, which show certain peculiarities in their development.[uncertain][VHOG]
Term relations
- entotympanic bone
- middle ear epithelium
- tubotympanic recess lumen
- mucosa of middle ear
- ligament of middle ear
- tympanic cavity epithelium
- tubotympanic recess epithelium
- mesenchyme of middle ear
- tensor tympani pre-muscle condensation
- stapedius pre-muscle condensation
- stapedial artery
- tegmen tympani
- nerve of tympanic cavity
- muscle of auditory ossicle
- blood vessel of tympanic cavity
- tympanic cavity
- tympanic ring
- pharyngotympanic tube
- tympanic membrane
- auditory ossicle endochondral element
- tensor tympani
- auditory ossicle bone
- stapedius muscle
- promontory of tympanic cavity
- malleal ligament
- posterior incudal ligament