Oval window

Oval window
View of the inner wall of the tympanum. (label is 'fen. oval.' - black circle near top.)
Right osseous labyrinth. Lateral view. (label is 'vestibular fenestra' - black circle near center.)
Latin	fenestra vestibuli, fenestra ovalis
Gray's	subject #230 1040
MeSH	Oval+Window
Dorlands/Elsevier	f_04/12357961

The oval window (or vestibular window) is a membrane-covered opening which leads from the middle ear to the vestibule of the inner ear.

Vibrations arriving at the eardrum are transmitted via the interacting ossicles from the middle ear through the membrane of the fenestra ovalis to the inner ear.

It is a reniform (kidney-shaped) opening leading from the tympanic cavity into the vestibule of the internal ear; its long diameter is horizontal, and its convex border is upward. In the recent state it is occupied by the base of the stapes, the circumference of which is fixed by the annular ligament to the margin of the foramen.

Additional images

• 

  Cochlea

External links

• Diagram at Washington University
• The Anatomy Wiz. Oval Window

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.

id:Tingkap oval