hi let's talk about the nasal septum the nasal septum is the physical structure which divides
left from right nasal cavity and it consists of three parts there's the ethmoid the vomer
and the septal cartilage in an osteological specimen we're only going to be able to see
the ethmoid and vomer the septal cartilage will not be present but let's uh let's focus on what
we can see so first of all the uh the ethmoid bone is quite secretive uh ethmoid comes from the uh
the greek uh ethmos which means uh a sieve and so um it's very cancellous it's it's very much full
of foramina in the anterior view of the skull here we can see probably the least cancellous
part of the bone which is this perpendicular plate of the ethmoid we can also see the middle
conchi which are of the ethmoid bone we cannot see the superior conchi which are also of the
ethmoid bone so this perpendicular plate of the ethmoid bone comes down and it is going to meet on
an anterior posterior oblique axis the vomer so the vomer rises up from the maxilla here to meet
the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid so on the inferior view of the skull here we can see
uh here are the maxillae and here are the palatine bones which have fused together
along the midline uh outline here so these two are forming the hard palate keeping in mind that the
soft palate continues beyond the the heart palate so we have the choanae the nostrils the internal
nostrils there and separating the two of these are the or is the vomer and we could outline the
the vomer here vomer comes from latin for plowshare which is the the shape
of the vomer and these lateral processes or parts to the the vomer are the uh
the ayla or the wings of the vomer and they're best viewed from an inferior position now looking
at profile we get a better sense for how these elements come together so let's let's outline
the vomer here so here it is up against the uh the sphenoid this is the sphenoidal sinus
here is the hard palate coming back and arising out of the floor of the the maxilla
and the palatine bones is the bomber and we can see how this is in fact shaped like a plowshare
superior to the vomer is the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid
descending down from the the roof of the nasal cavity and
anterior to the ethmoid and anterior superior to the vomer is the
septal cartilage that septal cartilage is going to be in the anterior portion of the nasal cavity and
it is going to be the only bony portion within the vestibule of the nose so this isn't a uh a perfect
least uh sagittally sectioned uh individual because we we don't have the the completeness
of the the the nearest here but um we can see at least on this part this would be the
kalumela the nasal columella and that is going to be just inferior from
the septal cartilage of the uh of the nose so tripartite uh partition septal cartilage is
anterior and as we move posteriorly we have the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid and the vomer
these are both going to be invested by mucosa uh or i should say all three of these elements
will be invested by mucosa these elements will have uh their own neurovasculature and that is
something that we will see in another video thank you very much for your time