The outer ear is the external portion of the ear, which consists of the pinna and external auditory

meatus. It gathers sound energy and focuses it on the eardrum (tympanic membrane). One consequence of the configuration of the external ear is to selectively boost the sound pressure 30- to 100-fold for frequencies around 3 kHz. This amplification makes humans most sensitive to frequencies in this range and also explains why they are particularly prone to acoustical injury and hearing loss near this frequency. Most human speech sounds are also distributed in the bandwidth around 3 kHz.

The human ear canal is divided into two parts. The elastic cartilage part forms the outer third of the canal, Its anterior and lower wall are cartilaginous, whereas its superior and back wall are fibrous. The cartilage is the continuation of the cartilage framework of pinna. The bony part forms the inner two thirds. The bony part is much shorter in children and is only a ring (annulus tympanicus) in the newborn. Size and shape of the canal vary among individuals. The canal is approximately 2.5 centimetres (1 in) long and 0.7 centimetres (0.28 in) in diameter. It has a sigmoid form and runs from behind and above downward and forward. On the cross-section, it is of oval shape. These are important factors to consider when fitting earplugs.

The pinna (Latin for feather) is the visible part of the ear that resides outside of the head (this may also be referred to as theauricle or auricula) The function of the pinna is to collect sound, and perform spectral transformations to incoming sounds which enable the process of vertical localization to take place. It collects sound by acting as a funnel, amplifying the sound and directing it to the auditory canal. While reflecting from the pinna, sound also goes through a filtering process, as well as frequency dependent amplitude modulation which adds directional information to the sound (see sound localization, vertical sound localization, head-related transfer function, pinna notch). The filtering effect of the human pinna preferentially selects sounds in the frequency range of human speech..

Malleus

The malleus or hammer is a hammer-shaped small bone or ossicle of the middle ear which connects with the incus and is attached to the inner surface of the eardrum. The word is Latin for hammer. It transmits the sound vibrations from the eardrum to the incus. The malleus is unique to mammals, and evolved from a lower jaw bone in basal amniotes called the articular, which still forms part of the jaw joint in reptiles and birds.[2] Embryologically it is derived from the first pharyngeal arch along with the rest of the bones of mastication, such as the maxillaand mandible. Sound waves hit the ear drum and, together with the other bones, it tends to transmit the vibrations from the ear drum to the cochlea, and then to the brain, which enables hearing.

In human anatomy, the eardrum, or tympanic membrane, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle earin humans and other tetrapods. Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear, and then to the oval window in the fluidfilled cochlea. Hence, it ultimately converts and amplifies vibration in air to vibration in fluid. The malleus bone bridges the gap between the eardrum and the other ossicles.[1] There are two general regions of the tympanic membrane: the pars flaccida (upper region, see picture on right) and the pars tensa. The pars flaccida consists of two layers, is relatively fragile, and is associated with eustachian tube dysfunction and cholesteatomas. The larger pars tensa region consists of three layers: skin, fibrous tissue, and mucosa. It is comparatively robust, and is the region most commonly associated with perforations.[2] Rupture or perforation of the eardrum can lead to conductive hearing loss. Collapse or retraction of the eardrum can also cause conductive hearing loss or even cholesteatoma.

The incus or anvil is the anvilshaped small bone or ossicle in the middle ear. Incus means "anvil" in Latin. It connects the malleus to the stapes. It was first described by Alessandro Achillini of Bologna. The incus transmits sound vibrations from the malleus to the stapes, which it is connected to through the incudomalleolar and incudost apedial jointrespectively.

The stapes is the stirrupshaped small bone or ossicle in the middle ear which is attached through the incudostapedial joint to the incus laterally and to the fenestra ovalis, the "oval window", medially. Stapes means stirrup in Latin. The oval window is adjacent to the vestibule of the inner ear. The stapes is the smallest and lightest bone in the human body. It was described by the professor Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia in 1546 at theUniversity of Naples. The stapes transmits the sound vibrations from the incus to the membrane of the inner ear inside the fenestra ovalis. The stapes is also stabilized by the stapedius muscle, which is innervated by the facial nerve

The middle ear is the portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the cochlea. The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which couple vibration of the eardrum into waves in the fluid and membranes of the inner ear. The hollow space of the middle ear has also been called the tympanic cavity, or cavum tympani. The eustachian tube joins the tympanic cavity with the nasal cavity (nasopharynx), allowing pressure to equalize between the middle ear and throat. The primary function of the middle ear is to efficiently transfer acoustic energy from compression waves in air to fluidmembrane waves within the cochlea.