Eye Structure

The individual components of the eye work in a manner similar to a camera. Each part plays a vital role in providing clear vision.

CORNEA – The transparent, outer “window” and primary focusing element of the eye.

 PUPIL – The dark opening in the center of the colored iris that controls how much light enters the eye. The colored iris functions like the iris of a camera, opening and closing, to control the amount of light entering through the pupil.

 LENS – The part of the eye immediately behind the iris that performs delicate focusing of light rays upon the retina. In persons under 40 years of age, the lens is soft and pliable, allowing for fine focusing from a wide variety of distances. For individuals over 40 years of age, the lens begins to become less pliable, making focusing upon objects near to the eye more difficult. This is known as presbyopia.

 RETINA – The membrane lining the back of the eye that contains photoreceptor cells. These photoreceptor nerve cells react to the presence and intensity of light by sending an impulse to the brain via the optic nerve. In the brain, the multitude of nerve impulses received from the photoreceptor cells in the retina are assimilated into an image.

 FOVEA – The most central part of the retina. This area is responsible for the clearest vision with sharpest colors and details.

 How does the eye works?

The human eye is remarkable. It accommodates to changing lighting conditions and focuses light rays originating from various distances from the eye. When all of the components of the eye function properly, light is converted to impulses and conveyed to the brain where an image is perceived.

Light rays enter the eye through a transparent layer of tissue known as the cornea. As the eye’s main focusing element, the cornea takes widely diverging rays of light and bends them through the pupil, the dark, round opening in the center of the colored iris.

The lens of the eye makes delicate adjustments in the path of the light rays in order to bring the light into focus upon the retina, the membrane containing photoreceptor nerve cells that lines the inside back wall of the eye. The retina change the light rays into electrical impulses and send them through the optic nerve to the brain where an image is perceived.