The Superior Roof of the Orbit

• The superior wall or roof of the orbit is formed almost completely by the orbital plate of the frontal bone.
• Posteriorly, the superior wall is formed by the lesser wing of the sphenoid bone.

• The roof of the orbit is thin, translucent, and gently arched. This plate of bone separates the orbital cavity and the anterior cranial fossa.

• The optic canal is located in the posterior part of the roof.

Initially, four clefts exist; however, only one gives rise to a definite structure in adults.

Tongue 
Appears at 4th week.
Musculature derived from mesoderm of occipital somites.  Precursor muscles cells migrate to region of tongue and are innervated by general sensory efferent fibers of CN XII.
Mucosa derived from anterior endoderm lining arches 1-4; accordingly, innervation depends on arch derivation:
              Mucosa of anterior 2/3 of tongue comes from the first arch -> CN V
              Mucosa of posterior 1/3 of tongue comes from third and forth arch -> CN IX, X
Special taste of anterior 2/3 of tongue comes from CN VII.
Special taste of posterior 1/3 of tongue comes from CN X.
Tongue freed from floor of mouth by extensive degeneration of underlying tissue.  Midline frenulum continues to anchor tongue to floor of mouth.

Thyroid Gland

Develops as in growth of mucosal epithelium located in the midline of the tongue (at foramen cecum).  It descends along front of pharyngeal gut, but remains connected to tongue by thyrooglossal duct, which is obliterated later in development.  Thyroid gland descends to a point just caudal to laryngeal cartilages. 

Facial structures (general)

a) medial nasal prominence forms midline of nose, philtrum and primary palate
b) lateral nasal prominence forms alae of nose
c) maxillary prominence forms cheek region and lateral lip
d) clefts can form at inter-prominence fusion lines

Nose

At the time of anterior neural tube closure, mesenchyme around forebrain, frontonasal prominence (FNP), has smooth rounded extended contour.  Nasal placodes (thickening of surface ectoderm to become peripheral neural tissue) develop on frontolateral aspects of FNP.  Mesenchyme swells around nasal placode producing a medial and lateral nasal prominence (nasomedial and nasolateral processes).  These nasal prominences form the nose.

Mouth 

Stomadeum (primitive oral cavity) forms between frontonasal prominence and first pharyngeal arch.  The first pharyngeal arch forms the dorsal maxillary prominence and ventral mandibular prominence.  The maxillary prominence will merge with medial nasal prominences, pushing them closer to cause fusion.  Fused medial nasal prominences will form midline of nose and midline of upper lip (philtrum) and primary palate (first 4 teeth).

Nasolacrimal structures

Maxillary and lateral nasal prominences are separated by deep furrow, the nasolacrimal groove.  Ectoderm in floor of groove forms epithelial cord, which detaches from overlying ectoderm.  The epithelial cord canalizes to form the nasolacrimal duct.  The upper end of the duct widens to form the lacrimal sac.  After detachment of the cord, the maxillary and lateral nasal prominences merge with each other, resulting in the formation of a nasolacrimal duct that runs from the medial corner of the eye to the inferior meatus of the nasal cavity.  
The maxillary prominences enlarge to form the cheeks and maxillae.
The lateral nasal prominences form the alae of the nose.

Secondary (hard) palate

Main part of definitive palate formed by two palatine shelves derived from intraoral bilateral extensions of the maxillary prominences.  These appear at the 6th week.  They are directed obliquely downward on each side of the tongue; they move down when mandible gets bigger.  
At the seventh week, they ascend to attain a horizontal position, then fuse to form the secondary palate.  At the time the palatine shelves fuse, the nasal septum (an outgrowth of median tissue of the frontonasal prominence) grows down and joins the cephalic aspect of the newly formed palate
Anteriorly, shelves fuse with triangular primary palate.  The incisive foramen marks the midline between the primary and secondary palate.

External Ear

The auricle is derived from 6 auricular hillocks (mesenchymal proliferations) along the dorsal aspect of arches 1 (top of ear) and 2 (bottom of ear).  These fuse to form the definitive auricle.  At the mandible grows, the ear is pushed upward and backward from its initial horizontal position on the neck.
The EAM is derived from the 1st pharyngeal arch.  
The eardrum (tympanic membrane) is composed of 3 layers of cells: 1) ectodermal epithelial lining of bottom of EAM; 2) endodermal epithelium lining of tympanic cavity; 3) intermediate layer of connective tissue.
The eardrum is composed of multiple cell layers because it represents the first pharyngeal membrane, and thus lies at the junction of the first pharyngeal pouch and cleft.

Middle Ear

The middle ear consists of an auditory tube (from the 1st pharyngeal pouch, along with tympanic cavity) and the ossicles (from pharyngeal arches 1 and 2 cartilage).  
The first arch cartilage forms the malleus and incus.  The tensor tympani (muscle of the malleus) is derived from the fourth somitomere (associated with the first arch) and is therefore innervated by CN V.
The second arch cartilage forms the stapes.  The stapedius (muscles of the stapes) is derived from the sixth somitomere (associated with the second arch) and is therefore innervated by CN VII.
The ossicles are initially embedded in mesenchyme, but in the 8th month, the mesenchyme degenerates and an endodermal epithelial lining of the tympanic cavity envelops the ossicles and connects them to the wall of the cavity in a mesentery-like fashion.

Inner Ear

The inner ear is derived thickening of surface ectoderm on both sides of the hindbrain (otic placodes).  The placodes invaginate to form otic vesicles (otocytes).  The vesicles then divide into ventral and dorsal components.
The ventral component forms the saccule and cochlear duct.
The dorsal component forms the utricle and semicircular canals and endolymphatic duct.

Cochlear Duct

Derived from an outgrowth of the saccule during the 6th week.  The outgrowth penetrates the surrounding mesenchyme in a spiral fashion.  The surrounding mesenchyme forms the cartilage and undergoes vacuolization.
The scala vestibule and scale tympani form and surround the cochlear duct.  They are filled with periplymp to receive mechanical vibrations of ossicles. The mechanical stimuli activates sensory (ciliary) cells in the cochlear duct.  

Semicircular canals

The utricle is initially three flattened outpocketings, which lose the central core.  From this three semicircular canals are forms, each at 90 degree angles from one another.  Sensory cells arise in the ampulla at one end of each canal, in the utricle and saccule. 

CARTILAGE

There are 3 types:

Hyaline cartilage
Elastic cartilage
Fibrocartilage

Matrix is made up by: Hyaluronic acid

Proteoglycans

- In cartilage the protein core of the proteoglycan molecule binds through a linking protein to hyaluronic acid to form a proteoglycan aggregate which binds to the fibres

- In the matrix there are spaces, lacunae in which one to three of the cells of cartilage, chondrocytes, are found

- The matrix around the lacuna is the territorial matrix

- Type II collagen fibrils are embedded in the matrix

- The type of fiber depends on the type of cartilage

- Cartilage is surrounded by perichondrium which is a dense CT

- Apositional growth takes place in the perichondrium

- The fibroblasts of the perichondrium change to elliptic chondroblasts which later change to round chondrocytes

- Interstitial growth takes place around the lacunae

- Nutrients diffuse through the matrix to get to the chondrocytes   this limits the thickness of cartilage

Hyaline cartilage

Found: Rib cartilage,  articulating surfaces,  nose,  larynx, trachea, embryonic skeleton, Articulating cartilage has no perichondrium

 Bluish-white and translucent

Contains type II collagen that is not visible

Elastic cartilage

Found:  external auditory canal,  epiglottis

Similar to hyaline except that it contains many elastic fibres ,Yellow in colour,  Can be continuous with hyaline

Fibrocartilage

Found: Intervertebral disk, symphysis pubis

Always associated with dense CT,  Many collagen fibres in the matrix, No perichondrium

- Chondrocytes tend to lie in rows, Can withstand strong forces

EPITHELIUMS

Epithelial Tissue Epithelial tissue covers surfaces, usually has a basement membrane, has little extracellular material, and has no blood vessels. A basement membrane attaches the epithelial cells to underlying tissues. Most epithelia have a free surface, which is not in contact with other cells. Epithelia are classified according to the number of cell layers and the shape of the cells.

• Epitheliums contain no blood vessels.  There is normally an underlying layer of connective tissue
• Almost all epitheliums lie on a basement membrane.The basement membrane consists of  a basal lamina and  reticular lamina. The reticular lamina is connected to the basal lamina by anchoring fibrils. The reticular lamina may be absent in which case the basement membrane consist only of a basal lamina. The basal lamina consists of a   - lamina densa in the middle (physical barrier) with a lamina lucida on both sides (+charge barrier),The basement membrane is absent in ependymal cells.The basement membrane is not continuous in sinusoidal capillaries.

• Epitheliums always line or cover something
• Epithelial cells lie close together with little intercellular space
• Epithelial cells are strongly connected to one another especially those epitheliums that are subjected to mechanical forces.  

Functions of Epithelium:

→ Simple epithelium involved with diffusion, filtration, secretion, or absorption

→ Stratified epithelium protects from abrasion

→ Squamous cells function in diffusion or filtration