Anatomically speaking, the model can be used to understand the structure of the entire ear, consisting of the outer ear with the auricle and the external ear canal, the middle ear and the inner ear. In addition, the eustachian tube (tuba auditoria) is seen, which communicates with the nasopharynx, as well as the location of the ear in the temporal bone (os temporale).
The model can be separated into 8 separate parts as follows:
The auricle (pinna) can be removed
The eardrum (membrana tympanica) with the three middle ear bones - the hammer (malleus), the anvil (incus) and the stapes - can be removed and examined
Part of the pars petrosa of the temporal bone can be removed
Where the eardrum separates the outer ear from the middle ear, the model can be separated into two larger parts
The lower part of the Eustachian tube can be separated from the middle ear
In the inner ear, the organs of hearing and equilibrium are illustrated with associated nerves (N. vestibulocochlearis - N. cochlearis and N. vestibularis). The model shows how the osseous labyrinth (pictured in white) surrounds the membranous labyrinth (pictured in blue) in the arch canals (canales semicirculares), while this is not the case in the vestibulum and in the cochlea.
