Skip to content
EasyAnatomyLab
Menu

Trochlea of superior oblique: anatomy, location and function

A small fibrocartilaginous pulley in the orbit. Redirects the superior oblique tendon.

Loading 3D model…
Skin0%
Muscles100%

Structures

Loading… Click the model or search.

Highlighted in the model: Trochlea of superior oblique. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Trochlea of superior oblique at a glance

What it is
A small fibrocartilaginous pulley in the orbit.
Location
Attached to the trochlear fovea of the frontal bone in the upper medial orbit.
Function
Redirects the superior oblique tendon.
Body system
Skeletal · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA49068 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • The tendon of superior oblique hooks through it, so the muscle pulls from the front of the orbit. The muscle (not the pulley) is supplied by the trochlear nerve (CN IV).

Structures next to the trochlea of superior oblique

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Trochlea of superior oblique (FMA49068). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §7.1 Divisions of the Skeletal System. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.