Incus
Sensory (eye & ear)OrgansHeadLeft and right
View left in 3D View right in 3D
- What it is
- The "anvil": the middle ossicle. Its body articulates with the malleus head, a short process points backwards into the attic, and a long process descends parallel to the malleus handle to end in the knob-like lenticular process that meets the stapes.
- Function
- Links malleus to stapes, adding lever action to the chain.
- Size
- About 7 mm long, 27 mg.
- Clinical note
- Its long process has the poorest blood supply of the chain and is the part most often eroded by chronic middle-ear disease, breaking the ossicular link.