< Vision

Anatomy of the Eye

Published: 2006-08-30

 

The anterior chamber is the area bounded in front by the cornea and in back by the lens, and filled with aqueous.  The aqueous is a clear, watery solution in the anterior and posterior chambers.  The artery is the vessel supplying blood to the eye.  The canal of Schlemm is the passageway for the aqueous fluid to leave the eye.  The choroid, which carries blood vessels, is the inner coat between the sclera and the retina.  The ciliary body is an unseen part of the iris, and these together with the ora serrata form the uveal tract.  The conjunctiva is a clear membrane covering the white of the eye (sclera).  The cornea is a clear, transparent portion of the outer coat of the eyeball through which light passes to the lens.  The iris gives our eyes color and it functions like the aperture on a camera, enlarging in dim light and contracting in bright light. The aperture itself is known as the pupil.    The lens helps to focus light on the retina.  The macula is a small area in the retina that provides our most central, acute vision.  The optic nerve conducts visual impulses to the brain from the retina.  The ora serrata and the ciliary body form the uveal tract, an unseen part of the iris.  The posterior chamber is the area behind the iris, but in front of the lens, that is filled with aqueous.  The pupil is the opening, or aperture, of the iris.  The rectus medialis is one of the six muscles of the eye.  The retina is the innermost coat of the back of the eye, formed of light-sensitive nerve endings that carry the visual impulse to the optic nerve. The retina may be compared to the film of a camera.  The sclera is the white of the eye.  The vein is the vessel that carries blood away from the eye.  The vitreous is a transparent, colorless mass of soft, gelatinous material filling the eyeball behind the lens.

Author: Source: The Discovery Fund for Eye Research