Ossicles

Article

The auditory ossicles are three small bones in the middle ear: the malleus, incus, and stapes. They form a movable chain between the eardrum and the oval window of the inner ear.

Sound pressure vibrates the eardrum, and the ossicles transmit this motion to fluid in the cochlea. Their lever action and the difference in area between the eardrum and oval window improve the transfer of acoustic energy from air to fluid.

The middle-ear muscles can modify ossicle motion in response to loud sounds and other stimuli, although they do not provide complete protection from intense noise. Disease, injury, or fixation of the bones can cause conductive hearing loss.

The stapes is the smallest bone in the human body. The ossicular system is central to hearing sensitivity across much of the audible frequency range.

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• Source / publisher: Wikipedia
• URL type: WWW
• Credits: Wikipedia
• URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossicles