The common names are the anvil, hammer and stirrup. The middle ear communicates through a tube with the back of the nose. The tube is called the eustachian tube and permits the inflow of air and the outflow of secretion of the middle ear mucosa. The middle ear is also connected to a system of small air cells located behind the middle ear and called the mastoid. Air filling the mastoid traverses through the middle ear.
Secretions draining from the mastoid also cross the middle ear and drain into the nasopharynx.
The vibrations are transmitted into the inner ear which contains the cochlea and semicircular canals. The vibrations are transmitted and conducted in a fluid medium. This causes vibrations in the cochlea along a membrane which contains small hairs. As the small hairs or hair cells are wiggled, the information of sound is perceived and transmitted to the auditory centers in the brain via the auditory nerve. Disease can occur in any of these sections and can present as pain, infection, hearing loss or dizziness.