Do you know that your eyes are made up of much more than what you can see in the mirror?
The eye is a beautiful and important body structure. Problems with the eyes can easily affect the quality of one’s life.
There are many important things to know about the eyes, but today, we will delve into a bit of anatomy. Keep reading to get an overview of what your eyes are really made of!
Anatomy of the eyes- Simplified!
Under natural circumstances, every individual should be born with two eyeballs.
The eyeball is a rounded structure that contains different internal components that make up the functional human eyes. The eyeballs are housed within the skull, in the orbital/eye sockets.
Contained in each eyeball includes:
- The sclera: This is a fibrous layer that engulfs almost 85% of the eyeball. It forms the white of the eyes. The muscles that control movement of the eyes are attached to the sclera. Due to its firm nature, the sclera can be regarded as the protective outer covering of the eyeball.
- The cornea: Although the sclera makes up most of the outer part of the eyeball, it aborts in the front part of the eyes, around the center. The ensuing defect is covered by the cornea. The cornea is also fibrous like the sclera, however, it is transparent. The cornea is continuous with the sclera, and its transparent nature allows for the entry of light (and therefore, images) into the eyes.
- The choroid: This is a vascular layer that contains networks of blood vessels that supply most of the eye. If you are entering the eyes from outside in, the choroid is the second layer to be encountered immediately after passing through the fibrous layers.
- Lens: The lens of the human eye is a clear, elliptical structure that separates the eye into anterior and posterior segments. The lens refract incoming light to help form a clear image on the retina. When the lens loses its transparent property and becomes cloudy, cataracts results.
- Aqueous humour: This is runny fluid that occupies the space between the cornea and the lens. The fluid plays an important role in nutrition, refraction of light and maintaining the shape of the eyes.
- The Iris: The iris is a circular, pigmented structure located just in front of the lens. The circumferential structure gives colour to the eyes- it could be black, honey-brown, blue, grey, etc. It contains muscles which regulate the amount of light entering the eyes.
- The pupil: The iris has an aperture or opening in its center, which allows light to pass through to the lensm – this is the pupil. The pupils constantly change in size through the contraction and relaxation of muscles within the iris.
- The vitreous humour: This is the gelatinous fluid that is contained in the back of the eyes. It helps to maintain the shape of the eyeball, and it also holds the retina in place.
- The retina: The retina is part of the eyes that is responsible for receiving and processing light and images. Generally speaking, it is the visual center of the eyes. The retina contains different parts e.g the macula, the disc, etc. It also contains different cells which play specific roles in the processing of reflected images. The optic nerve enters the eyes through the retina
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We hope you have learnt something new about the eyes today?
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