The Human Eye
Jalen Abijah Verano
Lens
The lens is a transparent, biconvex (lentil-shaped)
structure in the eye that, along with the cornea, helps
to refract light to be focused on the retina.
In humans, the refractive power of the lens in its
natural environment is approximately 15 dioptres,
roughly one-fourth of the eye’s total power
Iris
The iris consists of pigmented fibrovascular tissue
known as a stroma.
The stroma connects a sphincter muscle which
contracts the pupil, and a set of dilator muscles
which open it.
Depending on the amount of light, the iris makes the
pupil larger or smaller.
TRABECULAR
MESHWORK
The trabecular meshwork is an area of tissue in the eye located
around the base of the cornea, near the ciliary body
and is responsible for draining the aqueous humour from the
eye via the anterior chamber (the chamber on the front of the
eye covered by the cornea).
The tissue is spongy and lined by trabeculocytes; it allows fluid
to drain into a set of tubes called Schlemm’s canal flowing into
the blood system.
AQUEOUS HUMOUR
The aqueous humour is a thick, watery substance that fills the
space between the lens and the cornea. In a healthy eye, the
aqueous humour does not mix with the firm, gel-like vitreous
humour because of the lens and its Zonule of Zinn between the
two.
PUPIL
The pupil is the variable-sized, black circular or slit-shaped
opening in the center of the iris that regulates the amount of
light that enters the eye.
It appears black because most of the light entering the pupil is
absorbed by the tissues inside the eye.
CORNEA
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the
iris, pupil, and anterior chamber, providing most of an eye’s
optical power.
Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, and as a result
helps the eye to focus, accounting for approximately 80% of its
production to 20% of the lens focusing power.
The cornea contributes more to the total refraction than the lens
does, but, whereas the curvature of the lens can be adjusted to
“tune” the focus depending upon the object’s distance, the
curvature of the cornea is fixed and restored.
CONJUNCTIVA
The conjunctiva is a clear membrane that covers the sclera
(white part of the eye) and lines the inside of the eyelids.
It helps lubricate the eye by producing mucus and tears,
although a smaller volume of tears than the lacrimal gland.
It also contributes to immune surveillance and helps to prevent
the entrance of microbes into the eye.
VITREOUS HUMOUR
The vitreous is the transparent, colorless, gelatinous mass that
fills the space between the lens of the eye and the retina lining the
back of the eye.
It contains very few cells (mostly phagocytes which remove
unwanted cellular debris in the visual field), no blood vessels,
and 99% of its volume in water with salts, sugars, and a network
of collagen fibers with hyaluronic acid accounting for the rest.
However, the vitreous has a viscosity two to four times that of
pure water, giving it a gelatinous consistency. It also has a
refractive index of 1.336.
MACULA
The macula or macula lutea is an oval yellow spot near the center
of the retina of the human eye.
It has a diameter of about 1.5mm and is often histologically
defined as having two or more layers of ganglion cells.
Near its center is the fovea, a small pit that contains the largest
concentration of cone cells in the eye and is responsible for central
vision.
It is specialized for high acuity vision. Within the macula are the
fovea and foveola which contain a high density of cones.
RETINAL PIGMENTED
EPITHELIUM
The retinal pigment epithelium is the pigmented cell layer just
outside the neurosensory retina that nourishes the retinal visual
cells, and is firmly attached to the underlying choroid and
overlying retinal visual cells.
When viewed from the outer surface, these cells are smooth
and hexagonal in shape.
When seen in section, each cell consists of an outer non-
pigmented part containing a large oval nucleus and an inner
pigmented portion.
SCLERA
The sclera, called the white or white of the eye, is the opaque
(usually white though certain animals, such as horses and
lizards, can have black sclera), fibrous, protective, outer layer of
the eye containing collagen and elastic fibers.
In children, it is thinner and shows some of the underlying
pigment, appearing slightly blue. In the elderly, however, fatty
deposits on the sclera can make it appear slightly yellow.
CHOROID
The choroid, also known as the choroidea or choroid coat, is the
vascular layer of the eye lying between the retina and the
sclera, with a thickness about 0.5mm.
The choroid provides oxygen and nourishment to the outer
layers of the retina.
The red eye effect on photos is caused by the reflection of light
from choroid. It appears red because of the choroid’s blood
vessels.
RETINA
The retina is a thin layer of neural cells that lines the back of the
eyeball of vertebrates and some cephalopods. It is comparable
to the film in a camera.
In vertebrate embryonic development, the retina and the optic
nerve originate as outgrowths of the developing brain.
Hence, the retina is part of the central nervous system (CNS). It
is the only part of the CNS that can be imaged directly.
FOVEA
The fovea is responsible for sharp central vision, which is
necessary in humans for reading, watching television or movies,
driving or any activity where visual detail is of primary
importance
. The fovea is surrounded by the parafovea belt, and the perifovea
outer region the parafovea is the intermediate belt where the
ganglion cell layer is composed of more than five rows of cells
the perifovea is the outermost region where the ganglion cell
layer contains two to four rows of cells, and is where visual acuity
is below the optimum.
OPTIC NERVE
The optic nerve is the second of twelve paired cranial nerves
but is considered to be part of the central nervous system as it is
derived from an outpouching of the diencephalon during
embryonic development.
The fibers from the retina run along the optic nerve to nine
primary visual nuclei in the brain, from whence a major relay
inputs into the primary visual cortex.
Optical Defects
Myopia
Nearsightedness
This is a defect of vision in which far objects appear blurred
but near objects are seen clearly.
The image is focused in front of the retina rather than on it
usually because the eyeball is too long or the refractive power
of the eye’s lens too strong.
Myopia can be corrected by wearing glasses/contacts with
diverging lenses these help to focus the image on the retina.
Hyperopia
Farsightedness
This is a defect of vision in which there is difficulty with near
vision but far objects can be seen easily. The image is focused
behind the retina rather than upon it.
This occurs when the eyeball is too short or the refractive
power of the lens is too weak.
Hyperopia can be corrected by wearing glasses/contacts that
contain convergingvex lenses.
Double Vision
the simultaneous perception of two images, usually
overlapping, of a single scene or object.
If some of the lines appear grayer and some blacker, you
probably have an astigmatism.
Astigmatism
This defect is when the light rays do not all come to a
single focal point on the retina, instead some focus on
the retina and some focus in front of or behind it.
This is usually caused by a non-uniform curvature of
the cornea.
Astigmatism can usually be corrected by using a
special spherical cylindrical lens; this is placed in the
out-of-focus axis.
Types of astigmatism
Myopic astigmatism. One or both principal meridians
of the eye are nearsighted. (If both meridians are
nearsighted, they are myopic in differing degree.)
Hyperopic astigmatism. One or both principal
meridians are farsighted. (If both are farsighted, they
are hyperopic in differing degree.)
Mixed astigmatism. One principal meridian is
nearsighted, and the other is farsighted.
Cataract
cataract is a
clouding (opacity)
of the lens of the
eye that causes a
progressive,
painless loss of
vision.
Treatments
Glasses
Glasses are typically used for vision correction.
Most used treatment
Contact Lenses
or simply contact or CL, is a thin lens placed directly
on the surface of the eye.
CLs are considered medical devices and can be
worn to correct vision, or for cosmetic or therapeutic
reasons
Laser Eye Surgery
Refractive surgery is the term used to describe surgical
procedures that correct common vision problems
Currently, a laser procedure called Lasik the most popular
refractive surgery performed in the United States.
But there are other types of refractive surgery —
including other laser procedures and intraocular lens
procedures .
LASIK
LASIK, or "laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis,"
is the most commonly performed laser eye surgery to treat eye
defects
the LASIK procedure reshapes the cornea to enable light entering
the eye to be properly focused onto the retina for clearer vision.
If you're not a good Lasik candidate, a number of other vision
correction surgeries are available, such as PRK and LASEK laser
eye surgery and PHAKIC IOL surgery.
Your optometrist will determine if one of these procedures is
suitable for your condition and, if so, which technique is best.
PRK
PRK was the first type of laser eye surgery for
vision correction.
Myopia , hyperopia and/or astigmatism,
ineligible for LASIK
LASEK
The fundamental difference in how LASIK, PRK
and LASEK are performed concerns how the eye is
prepared for the laser treatment
Phakic IOL
implantable lenses that are surgically placed either
between the cornea and the iris
lenses enable light to focus properly on the retina for
clearer vision without corrective eyewear.
phakic IOLs work from within your eye instead of
sitting on the surface of your eye.
THANK
YOU!
