Structure and function of the human eye

1. The eye is located in the orbital cavity

2. It is roughly spherical in shape and about 25 cm in diameter
3. The eye is protected by bony walls of the orbit and the fat layer (occupiying the space
between the orbit and the eye)
4. The wall of the eye consists of 3 layers of tissue;
5. Outer white fibrous layer- cornea and sclera
6. Middle vascular layer- choroid, ciliary body and iris
7. Inner nervous tissue layer- retina
8. The sclera is opaque, and is composed of fibrous tissue
9. It forms the outermost layer of the posterior and lateral aspects of the eyeball.
10. The sclera helps in maintaining the shape and form of the eye and provides
protection to internal parts of eye
11. Sclera is continuous anteriorly with the cornea which is transparent and made of
epithelial tissue
12. Cornea is convex anteriorly and occupies 1/6th of the outermost fibrous layer
13. It lacks blood vessels
14. Cornea is involved in refraction of light rays to focus them on the retina
15. The choroid lines the posterior 5/6th of the inner surface of the sclera
16. It is rich in blood vessels and supplies O2 , nutrients to the eye
17. It absorbs stray light (to prevent reflection within the eye)
18. The ciliary body is a thickened anterior continuation of the choroid
19. It consists of smooth muscles and secretory epithelial cells
20. It gives attachment to suspensory ligaments which are inturn attached to the lens
21. Epithelial cells secrete aqueous humour into the space between eye lens and cornea
22. Contraction and relaxation of ciliary muscles, helps in controlling size and thickness of
the lens
23. The iris is the colored ring that extends anteriorly from the ciliary body
24. It lies behind the cornea infront of the lens
25. Iris contains two layers of smooth muscle; circular muscle , and radiating muscle
26. In the centre of the lens is an aperture called the pupil
27. The size of the pupil is controlled by the muscles of the iris
28. The lens of the eye is circular, elastic, transparent and biconvex.
29. It refracts light rays by changing its curvature
30. Infront of the lens and behind the cornea is a clear watery fluid termed aqueous
humour
31. Behind the lens is a chamber filled with jelly-like vitreous humour
32. Due to the pressure created by aqueous and vitreous humours, they are involved in
supporting and providing shape to the eye.
33. Retina is the innermost layer of the wall of the eye
34. It lines about 3/4th of the eye ball, it is thick posteriorly and thins out anteriorly
35. It contains nerve fibres and photoreceptor cells lying on a layer of epithelial cells
36. The light sensitive layer contains two types of specialized receptor cells:
37. Rods and Cones
38. Near the centre of the posterior part of the retina is the yellow spot
39. The yellow spot contains a depression called fovea containing only cones
40. Fovea is the most sensitive part of the retina
41. Anteriorly in the retina, there are fewer cones than rods
42. The small area of the retina where the optic nerve leaves the eye is the blind spot
43. It contains no light sensitive cells