Ligament · Neck

Cricothyroid membrane and ligament

Ligamentum cricothyroideum

The elastic sheet closing the gap between the ring of cricoid cartilage and the shield of thyroid cartilage above it. In the midline it is thickened into a tough band you can feel through the skin, in the soft dip just below the Adam's apple; from there the sheet sweeps upward and inward on each side, and its free upper borders are the vocal ligaments themselves. So this is one continuous structure with two identities — a strap across the front of the larynx, and the elastic cone whose edges vibrate to make sound.