THE EYE

Part Function

Cornea the transparent part of your eye that covers the iris and pupil. It reaches
light through the pupil

Lens The biconvex structure that sits behind your pupil. It further refracts light
to be focussed on your retina. Its shape is changed in a process called
accommodation when you look at near and far objects

Iris The coloured muscle that surrounds you pupil. It controls the size of the
pupil by relaxing and contracting to let more or less light in

Ciliary Body A structure made of muscles called ciliary muscles, which can contract
and relax to change the shape of your lens during accommodation

Choroid The layer of your eye found between the retina and the sclera. It provides
oxygen and nourishment to the cells of the retina

Retina The layer of receptors found inside your eye. It contains two types of
light-sensitive cell called rods and cones

Fovea A specific part of the retina that is responsible for your sharpest vision.
About half of the neurons that leave your eye come from this point alone

The white of your eye. It is the outer layer that protects the rest of your
Sclera eye. In many other mammals it is not white and so is not as easy to
distinguish from the iris

Optic Nerve The nerve made from neurons that connect your eyes to your brain.
Electrical impulses pass from the eyes to the brain to let you see

SEEING IN COLOUR
● The receptor cells in the eye convert light into the electrical of a nerve impulse
● Receptor cells in the retina that perceive colour are called cones

SEEING IN DIM LIGHT

● In dim-or bright-light, two sets of muscles work to regulate the amount of light falling
on the retina

Accomodation - Changing the shape of the lens in your eye to focus on near or far objects
 ● Inner circular muscles, outer radial muscles and pupil
● Dim light - radius muscles contract, the pupil becomes larger
● Bright light - circular muscles contract, the pupil becomes smaller

NEAR OBJECTS
● Light rays reflected by near object diverge
● Ciliary muscles contract
● Suspensory ligaments go slack
● Lens becomes short and thick
● Light is refracted a lot to focus on the retina

FAR OBJECTS
● Light rays reflected by a distant object are almost parallel when they reach the eye
● Ciliary muscles relax
● Suspensory ligaments become taut
● Lens become long and thin
● Light is refracted a little to focus on the retina
MYOPIA AND HYPEROPIA
● Myopia - nearsightedness
● Hyperopia - farsightedness

Normal Vision Myopia Hyperopia

Where image on the retina in front of the retina behind the retina
is formed?

Why? perfect curve light refracts too much light doesn’t refract enough
and shape of cornea too curved cornea is flat
lens/cornea lens is too strong lens is too weak
eyeball too long eyeball too short

How concave lens convex lens

corrected? moves image back moves image forward

● Corrective lenses can be worn as contact lenses or glasses. Some people opt for
laser surgery to change the shape of the cornea and lens

TREATMENTS
● Contact Lenses
○ Thin lenses sit on surface of the eye, shaped to compensate for the fault in
focusing
○ Lightweight and almost and invisible
○ More convenient the glasses for sports
○ Hard lenses and soft lenses
○ Soft lenses are more comfortable, easily disposable and oxygen passes
through easily
○ Hard lenses offer better eye health, more durable and retain shape
● Laser Eye Surgery
○ Laser can be used to vaporise tissue → changing the shape of the cornea
○ Slimming it down makes it less powerful → improves short sight
○ Changing shape so it’s more powerful → improves long sight
○ Surgeon can precisely control how much tissue the laser takes off, completely
correcting the vision
○ Risk of complications such as infection or the eye reacting a way making your
vision worse
● Replacement Lens Surgery
○ Sometimes more effective than LES for long-sightedness
○ Natural lens of eye removed and an artificial lens, made of clear plastic is
inserted in it place
○ Higher risk than LES, including possible damage to the retina could lead to
loss of sight