The Medial Pterygoid Muscle

• This is a thick, quadrilateral muscle that also has two heads or origin.
• It embraces the inferior head of the lateral pterygoid muscle.
• It is located deep to the ramus of the mandible.

• Origin: deep head—medial surface of lateral pterygoid plate and pyramidal process of palatine bone, superficial head—tuberosity of maxilla.
• Insertion: medial surface of ramus of mandible, inferior to mandibular foramen.
• Innervation: mandibular nerve via medial pterygoid nerve.

• It helps to elevate the mandible and closes the jaws.
• Acting together, they help to protrude the mandible.
• Acting alone, it protrudes the side of the jaw.
• Acting alternately, they produce a grinding motion.

• U-shaped bone
• Body
• Greater horn
• Lesser horn

• Suspended by ligaments from the styloid process

The Orbital Margin

• The frontal, maxillary and zygomatic bones contribute equally to the formation of the orbital margin.

• The supraorbital margin is composed entirely of the frontal bone.
• At the junction of its medial and middle thirds is the supraorbital foramen (sometimes a notch), which transmits the supraorbital nerves and vessels.

• The lateral orbital margin is formed almost entirely of the frontal process of the zygomatic bone.

• The infraorbital margin is formed by the zygomatic bone laterally and the maxilla medially.

• The medial orbital margin is formed superiorly by the frontal bone and inferiorly by the lacrimal crest of the frontal process of the maxilla.
• This margin is distinct in its inferior half only.

The Auditory Ossicles

The Malleus

• Its superior part, the head, lies in the epitympanic recess.
• The head articulates with the incus.

• The neck, lies against the flaccid part of the tympanic membrane.
• The chorda tympani nerve crosses the medial surface of the neck of the malleus.

• The handle of the malleus (L. hammer) is embedded in the tympanic membrane and moves with it.
• The tendon of the tensor tympani muscle inserts into the handle.

The Incus

• Its large body lies in the epitympanic recess where it articulates with the head of the malleus.
• The long process of the incus (L. an anvil) articulates with the stapes.
• The short process is connected by a ligament to the posterior wall of the tympanic cavity.

The Stapes

• The base (footplate) of the stapes (L. a stirrup), the smallest ossicle, fits into the fenestra vestibuli or oval window on the medial wall of the tympanic cavity.

Functions of the Auditory Ossicles

• The auditory ossicles increase the force but decrease the amplitude of the vibrations transmitted from the tympanic membrane.

Endochondral ossification

• A cartilage model exists
• Through intramembraneous ossification in the perichondrium a collar of bone forms around the middle part of the cartilage model
• The perichondrium change to a periostium
• The bone collar cuts off the nutrient and oxygen supply to the chondrocytes in the cartilage model
• The chondrocytes then increase in size and resorb the surrounding cartilage matrix until only thin vertical septae of matrix are left over
• These thin plates then calcify after which the chondrocytes die
• The osteoclasts make holes in the bone collar through which blood vessels can now enter the cavities left behind by the chondrocytes
• With the blood vessels osteoprogenitor cells enter the tissue
• They position themselves on the calcified cartilage septae, change into osteoblasts and start to deposit bone to form trabeculae
• In the mean time the periosteum is depositing bone on the outside of the bone collar making it thicker and thicker
• The trabeculae,consisting of a core of calcified cartilage with bone deposited on top of it, are eventually resorbed by osteoclasts to form the marrow cavity
• The area where this happens is the primary ossification centre and lies in what is called the diaphysis (shaft)
• This process spreads in two directions towards the two ends of the bone the epiphysis
• In the two ends (heads) of the bone a similar process takes place
• A secondary ossification centre develops from where ossification spreads radially
• Here no bone collar forms
• The outer layer of the original cartilage remains behind to form the articulating cartilage
• Between the primary and the secondary ossification centers two epiphyseal cartilage plates remain
• This is where the bone grows in length

• From the epiphyseal cartilage plate towards the diaphysis a number of zones can be identified:

 Resting zone of cartilage

 Hyaline cartilage

 Proliferation zone

 Chondrocytes divide to form columns of cells that mature.

Hypertrophic cartilage zone

 Chondrocytes become larger, accumulate glycogen, resorb the surrounding matrix so that only thin septae of cartilage remain 

Calcification and degeneration zone

The thin septae of cartilage become calcified.

The calsified septae cut off the nutrient supply to the chondrocytes so subsequently they die.

Ossification zone.

Osteoclasts make openings in the bone collar through which blood vessels then invade the spaces left vacant by the chondrocytes that died.

Osteoprogenitor cells come in with the blood and position themselves on the calcified cartilage

septae, change into osteoblasts and start to deposit bone.

 When osteoblasts become trapped in bone they change to osteocytes.

Growth and remodeling of bone

Long bones become longer because of growth at the epiphyseal plates

They become wider because of bone formed by the periosteum

The marrow cavity becomes bigger because of resorbtion by the osteoclasts

Fracture repair

When bone is fractured a blood clot forms

 Macrophages then remove the clot, remaining osteocytes and damaged bone matrix

The periosteum and endosteum produce osteoprogenitor cells that form a cellular tissue in the fracture area

 Intramembranous and endochondral ossification then take place in this area forming trabeculae.

Trabeculae connect the two ends of the broken bone to form a callus

Remodelling then takes place to restore the bone as it was

Joints

The capsule of a joint seals off the articular cavity,  

The capsule has two layers

 fibrous (outer)

synovial (inner)

The synovial layer is lined by squamous or cuboidal epithelial cells,  Under this layer is a layer of loose or dense CT, The lining cells consists of two types:

- A cells

- B cells

They secrete the synovial fluid

They are different stages of the same cell, They are also phagocytic., The articular cartilage has fibres that run perpendicular to the bone and then turn to run parallel to the surface

Histology

Histology is the study of tissues.

A tissue is a group of cells with similar structure and function plus the extracellular substances located between the cells.

There are four basic types of tissues:

- Epitheliums

- Connective tissue

- Muscle tissue

- Nervous tissue