Human Eye (Organ of Sight)

Eye is a photoreceptor organ that helps in vision and is located in the eye orbit of
skull. It is surrounded by upper and lower eye lids with eyelashes. There are six sets
of muscles attached to the outer surface of eyeball which help to rotate it in different
directions. Human eye is hollow spherical ball measuring about 2.5cm in diameter.
Nictitating membrane is present in the inner corner of the eye and it is vestigial in
human. Two types of glands are associated with eyes. They are:
 Meiobomian glands: These are modified form of sebaceous gland present
along with edges of eyelids. These secrets oily secretion to lubricate the eyelids and
eyelashes.
 Lachrymal or Tear glands: It is one pair, modified form of sweat gland. These
are present on the superior and lateral surfaces of eyeball. These glands secrete
watery alkaline tears to keep the eye moist and clean from dust particles. Tears
contain lysozyme to kill bacteria entering the eyes. Lachrymal gland has numerous
ducts- superior and inferior canaliculi, a lachrymal duct and naso lachrymal duct.
The tears flow into the nasal cavity through the naso lachrymal duct.
Internal structure of human eye

Figure- V.S. of Human eye

The vertical section of eye ball shows that it is rounded all like structure. It is formed
by three major tissue layer called Coats or Tunica. These are:
1) Outer layer- Sclerotic
2) Middle layer- Choroid
3) Inner layer- Retina

1) Sclerotic - It is the outer fibrous coat of eyeball. It is formed of three parts:

a) Sclera - It is an external white coat of dense fibrous connective tissue. It is
protective in function. It covers 5/6th part of eyeball. It maintains the shape of the
eyeball.
b) Cornea - It is slight bulge front part of sclera through which the light enters.
It is thin, transparent front part of sclera and covers about 1/6th part of sclera. The
cornea is avascular (no blood supply). So, it is transplanted. It refracts the light to
focus on retina. It also absorbs the oxygen from the air.
c) Conjunctiva- It is a thin transparent layer that covers the cornea. It helps to
protect the cornea.

Note: Canal of Schlemn is a small tubular capillaries present at the junction of Sclera
and Cornea which drains out excess of aqueous humor into blood. Closing of this
canal increases pressure in aqueous humor which may leads to glaucoma (Jalbindu).

2) Choroid - It is the middle layer which is vascular and pigmented. It is formed

of three parts:
a) Choroid- It is situated just below the sclera. It is thick, highly vascular
connective tissue. The pigmented cells in it consists of melanin which absorbs light,
provide nutrition to retina and to darken the eyeball to prevent from internal
reflections.
b) Ciliary part or Ciliary body - The anterior end of the choroid expands to form
ciliary body which is present at the junction of sclera and cornea. It contains two sets
of ciliary muscles whose contractions and relaxations change the shape of the lens.
Ciliary body is attached to the lens by the suspensory ligaments and holds the lens
in position.

c) Iris - In front of lens a muscular, pigmented diaphragm hangs called iris. A

small circular opening is formed between two iris called pupil. Iris controls the size
of the pupil which inturn controls yhe amount of light entering the eye. In dim light,
pupil becomes larger and in bright light the pupil becomes smaller. Iris contains
pigments which gives the color to the eyes.

3) Retina - It is the innermost layer of eyeball which is extremely delicate and

highly photosensitive. It contains two types of photoreceptor cells - Rod cells and
cone cells and photosensitive elements. - bipolar neurons and ganglionic layers.
a) Rod cells - There are about 10 - 20 million rods in Retina. They function in
dim light and forms black and white images. They contain rhodopsin pigment
formed of vitamin A.
b) Cone cells - There are about 6 - 7 million of cone cells in retina. They function
in bright light forming colored images. They contains Iodopsin pigment.

Retina has a combination of both rods and cones. But there is a smaller
depression on retinal walls known as fovea centralis or yellow spot or macula lutea
which contains only cones. There is the area which is most sensitive to light and
forms a magnified image. It forms the acute (sharp) vision. The optic nerve enters
retina at a point called blind spot. It does not contain any rods and cones. It is least
sensitive to light and thus no image is formed.
 T.S of Retina

Lens - It is a large, transparent, biconvex and fibrous crystalline situated behind the
iris. The lens is suspended inside the eyeball by suspensory ligament of yellow
elastic fibers. It is enclosed in a transparent, elastic capsule. There is no blood in the
lens. Lens provides fine adjustment for focusing light on to the retina. Ciliary
muscles control thickness of lens and its power of accommodation. The lens
separates the eyeball into two chambers;
a. Aqueous chamber- The small chamber between cornea and lens is called
aqueous chamber. It is filled with clear watery fluid called aqueous humor which is
produced by ciliary body. Aqueous humor contains glucose, aminoacids, ascorbic
acids and respiratory gases. It provides nutrition to lens and cornea, support lens and
refracts light rays to focus on retina.
b. Vitreous chamber- The larger chamber between lens and retina is called
vitreous chamber. It is filled with vitreous humor that contains 99% water, salts and
some mucoproteins. It supports retina and lens, refracts light and gives shape to
eyeball. Vitreous humor is also called Wharton’s jelly.

Working of the Human Eye (Accomodation)

The human eye works exactly like the Photographic camera. The cornea, aqueous
humour, lens and vitreous humour together form a dioptric apparatus which helps to
focus the image of an object on the retina. When the light rays fall on cornea, passes
through the Pupil and form image of an object on the retina. Iris controls the amount
of light passing through the pupil. Muscles of iris controls the size of the pupil. Lens
adjust for sharp focusing. The ability of human eye to see clearly the objects situated
at various distances is called Accomodation. The image formed on the retina is
inverted, real and diminished. The inverted image formed at the retina is picked up
by the optic nerve as impulses and finally reached to the brain where it is interpreted
and the real sensation of sight arises. Finally, a person perceives the onject as upright.

Defects of Human Eyes

a. Hypermetropia (Long sightedness): In this kind of eye defect, Person is able

to see distant objects but not the nearer objects. It may be caused due to shrinking of
eyeball or elongation of lens. So that the image is formed behind the retina. It is
corrected by using convex lens.
b. Myopia (Short sightedness): In this kind of eye defect, Person is able to see
nearer objects but not the far objects. It may be caused due to shrinking of lens or
elongation of eyeball. So that the refracted rays are focused in front of the retina. It
is corrected by using concave lens.
c. Astigmation: It is caused when the cornea or lens are curved unequally. Image
of some part of object is formed in front and some part behind the retina. It is
corrected by using cylindrical lens.
d. Presbyopia: It is a defect in accommodation occurring in old age. Person
cannot see clearly very nearer objects as well as far objects. It is corrected by using
bifocal lens having both convex and concave lens.
e. Cataract (Motibindu): It can result when a lens becomes opaque due to
coagulation of proteins in lens. It may be caused due to old age, eye injury, diabetes.
It is corrected by surgical removal of the opaque lens and using biconvex lens.
f. Glaucoma (Jalbindu): It is caused when the pressure within the eye is raised
above the normal value. It results in gradual loss of sight. This can be corrected by
operation or by drugs that reduce the secretion of aqueous humour.
g. Color blindness: The man suffering from color blindness cannot distinguish
between red and green color. It is caused due to the absence of red or green cone
cells. It is a hereditary disease.
h. Conjunctivitis : It is also called pink eye. It is an inflammation of the
conjunctiva.
i. Trachoma: It is the redness of eye and more secretion of watery fluid. It is
chronic contagious conjunctivitis.
 HUMAN EAR

-It is a stato-acoustic organ i.e an organ of hearing and equilibrium (balancing

organ).
-The ears are situated on the lateral side of head.
-It is connected with brain by auditory nerves.
Ears are formed by three parts:
A. External ear: pinna + auditory tube (meatus).
B. Middle ear: tympanic cavity + ear drum + ear ossicles
C. Internal ear: vestibule + semicircular canal + cochlea
A. External Ear
It consists of 2 parts; pinna and auditory tube (meatus).
1. Pinna:
- It is made up of fibro elastic cartilage and auricular muscles which is covered by
layer of skin.
- Its upper part is helix and lower part is called lobule.
Function:
-It collects the sound waves.
-Muscles of ears (auricular muscles) are non-functional (vestigial) in man.

2. External auditory tube (meatus):

- It is 2.5cm long. It is supported externally by cartilage and internally by bone.
- It has hair and cerumious gland (wax gland).
Function:
i. It hairy part and wax glands prevent the entry of dust particles
ii. The secretion of wax glands lubricate the ear drum
iii. It collects the sound waves and passes it to the ear drum.
B. Middle Ear
It consists of 3 parts: ear drum, tympanic cavity and ear ossicles.
1. Tympanum or ear drum:
- It is highly elastic, thin, stretchable membrane and capable of vibrating.
Function:
i. It amplifies the sound waves into appropriate magnitude.
ii. It also separates the external and middle ear.
2. Tympanic cavity:
- It is a small air filled cavity.
- It is connected to pharynx by Eustachian tube.
Function:
i. It balances the air pressure of ear.

3. Ear ossicles:
The three bones present in the ear are called ear ossicles. These are: (MIS)
i. Malleus (hammer shape): It communicates the external ear through ear drum.
ii. Incus (anvil shape): it lies between malleus and stapes.
iii. Stapes (stirrup shape): it is smallest bone of the body. It communicates the
internal ear through fenestra ovalis.
Function:
Ossicles amplify the sound (20 times) and transmit the sound waves from external
ear to internal ear.
The middle ear is connected with internal ear by two small openings
i. Fenestra ovalis (oval window)
ii. Fenestra rotunda (round window)
C. Internal Ear
Internal ear consists of 3 parts i.e. semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea.
1. Semicircular canals:
- There are 3 semicircular canals i.e. anterior, posterior and lateral, which are
perpendicular to each other.
- Each semicircular canal is swollen at the lower end which is called as ampulla.
- Each ampulla has sensory spots called crista.
Function:
Semicircular canals are concerned with dynamic balance in the body.

2. Vestibule:
- It consist of two chambers i.e. upper utriculus (larger) and lower saculus
(smaller).
- Utriculus and saculus are connected together by utriculo- saccular duct.
- Vestibule (utriculus and saculus) consist of sensory cells called macula.
- Macula consists of otolith (small crystal of CaCo3).
Function: Vestibule is concerned with static balance in the body.

3. Cochlea:
- It is the main hearing organ.
- It is a short (20-30mm long) and spirally coiled tube.
- It is arises from sacculus.
- It is divided longitudinally into 3 canals, they are:
i. Scala vestibuli:
- It is upper part which is filled with peri-lymph.
- It connects the middle ear through oval window.
ii. Scala tympani:
- It is lower part which is filled with peri-lymph.
- It connects the middle ear through round window.

iii. Scala media.

- It is middle part which is filled with endolymph.
- It is the most important chamber which is responsible for hearing.
- It consists of upper membrane called Reissner’s membrane and lower is called
Basilar membrane.
- The basilar membrane has Organ of Corti which is concerned with hearing of
sound.

Organ of Corti
- It is the receptor organ for hearing.
- It is made up of about 54,000 sensory hair cells or phono-receptors cells.
- Tectorial membrane hangs over the Organ of Corti, which help in generating
the auditory nerve impulse .

Function:
Function of cochlea is to receive the sound waves, convert it to nerve impulse and
conduct it to auditory nerve.
WORKING MECHANISM OF HUMAN EAR

A. Hearing (receive sound):

A sound wave is collected by pinna and conducted through the external auditory
meatus. Sound waves strike the tympanic membrane (ear drum) and leads to its
vibration. The vibrations pass through the ear ossicles which transmit the sound to
internal ear after magnification (about 20 times) through fenestra ovalis.
The sound waves cause peri-lymph of scala vestibule to vibrate which passes to
endo-lymph of scala media. It causes basilar membrane to vibrates, which inturn
result in vibration of Organ of corti and Tectorial membrane. The sets of vibrating
movement on sensory hairs (phono-receptors cells) of Organ of corti, convert the
sound waves into nerve impulse. These nerve impulses are taken away by auditory
nerve fibres to brain where sensation of hearing is felt. Hence sound is heard.
Audible range of sound in human is 20 Hz to 20 kilo Hz. The ear is most sensitive
between 2-3 kilo Hz.
B. Equillibrium:
1. Dynamic equilibrium
- It is concerned with balance of body during locomotion and angular movement.
- It is maintained by 3 semi-circular canals along with crista.
- Any change in position and posture during angular motion causes movement of
endolymph of semi-circular canals. It stimulates the sensory hair cells of crista
present in ampula. As a result, hair cells of cristae detect the difference in position
and direction and in turn produce the nerve impulses. These nerve impulses are taken
away by auditory nerve fibers to brain for necessary response.

2. Static equilibrium:
- It is concerned with stable equilibrium during rest or linear acceleration of body.
- It is maintained by sacculus and utriculus along with maculae.
- Any change in position of head causes movement of endolymph of vestibule
(sacculus and utriculus). It stimulates the sensory hair cells of maculae and otolith
present in vestibule. As a result, hair cells of maculae and otolith (CaCo3) detect the
difference in position and direction and in turn produce the nerve impulses. These
nerve impulses are taken away by auditory nerve fibres to brain for necessary
response.