Editing Oval window

{{Short description|Membrane-covered opening in the ear}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox anatomy
| Name        = Oval window
| Latin       = fenestra vestibuli, fenestra ovalis
| Image       = Blausen_0330_EarAnatomy_MiddleEar.png
| Caption     = [[Middle ear]], with oval window at right.
| Width       =
| Image2      = Right_osseous_labyrinth_svg_hariadhi.svg
| Caption2    = Right osseous labyrinth. Lateral view (label is ''vestibular fenestra'' — black circle near center)
| Precursor   = 
| System      = 
| Artery      = 
| Vein        = 
| Nerve       = 
| Lymph       = 
}}
The '''oval window''' (or '''''fenestra vestibuli''''' or '''''fenestra ovalis''''') is a connective tissue membrane-covered opening from the [[middle ear]] to the [[cochlea]] of the [[inner ear]].

Vibrations that contact the [[tympanic membrane]] travel through the three [[ossicles]] and into the inner ear. The oval window is the intersection of the middle ear with the inner ear and is directly contacted by the [[stapes]]; by the time vibrations reach the oval window, they have been reduced in amplitude and increased in pressure due to the lever action of the ossicle bones. This is not an amplification function; rather, an impedance-matching function, allowing sound to be transferred from air (outer ear) to liquid (cochlea). 
 
It is a reniform (kidney-shaped) opening leading from the tympanic cavity into the vestibule of the inner ear; its long diameter is horizontal and its convex border is upward. 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|foramen]].

==Additional images==
<gallery>
 Gray911.png|View of the inner wall of the [[eardrum]] (label is ''fen. oval.'' – black circle near top)
 File:Cochlea.svg|Cochlea
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Round window]]
* {{Gray's}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060205153331/http://thalamus.wustl.edu/course/aud1.gif Diagram] at [[Washington University School of Medicine]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170111044111/http://www.anatomywiz.com/?Oval%20Window1 The Anatomy Wiz.] Oval Window

{{Auditory and vestibular anatomy}}
{{Portal bar|Anatomy}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Auditory system]]
[[Category:Ear]]


{{anatomy-stub}}