Imprints of the inner sensory cell hairs on the human tectorial membrane

Imprints indicating possible direct inner sensory cell hair contact with the tectorial membrane were observed in the cochlea of a 77-year-old woman under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The imprints were seen in the lower and upper basal cochlear turns but not in the apical and middle turns. The small dot of imprints numbered from a few up to l2 and were arranged in various forms rather than straight lines. Contact between the tectorial membrane and inner and outer sensory cell hairs of the humancochlea was discussed from the SEM findings found in this case.