Ear Anatomy: Outer Ear and Auditory Tube (preview) - Human Anatomy | Kenhub

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In this short preview video, we're going to begin looking at the structures of the outer ear and the auditory tube, as well as other important surrounding structures of the middle ear and inner ear.

The ear is a vital component for one of the 5 senses - hearing. Aside from this, the parts of the auditory apparatus also function in aiding with balance and spatial orientation.

We’ll start by looking at the structures of the external ear. The external ear consists of the part attached to the lateral aspect of your head known as the auricle, or the name you probably call it all the time: your ear.

The auricle is an organ located bilaterally on the human cranium. It consists of cartilage covered with skin and arranged in a pattern of various elevations and depressions. This is basically the visible part of the ear that you can see and also touch. Its function is to collect sound, acting as a funnel which amplifies and directs the sound to the auditory canal.

The other part of the external layer is the external acoustic meatus. This is a tube which extends for approximately 2.5 centimetres from the deepest part of the auricle to the tympanic membrane, famously known as the eardrum.