Funnel

(fun'-el). 1. A wide-mouthed, conic ve el ending a tube, designed to aid in the speedy and safe transfer of liquids from one ve el to another. It is also used as a support for paper-filters. 2. An infundibulum. F. Mitral, a condition of the mitral valve in mitral stenosis in which the left auricle and the valve-structures are transformed into a hollow cone. This condition is also called Button-hole Mitral. F., Muscular, the funnel-shaped space bounded by the four straight muscles of the eye; its apex is at the optic foramen, the eyeball forms its base, and along its axis runs the optic nerve. F. -shaped Pelvis, a congenital deformity of the pelvis, in which it retains its fetal or funnel shape. F., Vascular, the light-hued depre ion at the center of the disc of the retina; if exaggerated, it forms a so-called physiologic cup.