Anatomy and

Physiology
of the Eye
Dr. Silvestre A. Pascual Jr.
Department of Ophthalmology
Outline
1. THE GLOBE
2. THE OUTER COAT
• The Cornea
 The Corneal Epithelium
 The Corneal Stroma
 The Descemet’s Membrane
 The Endothelium
• The Sclera
• The Corneoscleral Limbus
Outline
3. THE MIDDLE COAT
• The Iris
• The Ciliary Body
• The Choroid
4. THE INNER COAT
• The Retina
• The Photoreceptor
• The Modulator Cells
• The Transmitter Cells
• The Supporting Cells
• Regions of the Retina
Outline
5. CHAMBERS OF THE EYE
• Aqueous Humor
• Vitreous Humor
6. LENS
7. ZONULES
THE GLOBE
 Occupies the front half
of the orbit

 Only the anterior third

is exposed consisting
of the cornea and
sclera

 The exposed sclera is

covered by the bulbar
conjunctiva
THE GLOBE
 Has three main
layers or coats:
o Outer: cornea,
sclera, corneoscleral
limbus
o Middle: iris, ciliary
body, choroids
o Inner: retinal
pigment epithelium
and retina
THE GLOBE
 Has 3 chambers:
o Anterior Chamber (w/
aqueous humor)
o Posterior Chamber (w/
aqueous humor)
o Vitreous Chamber (w/
vitreous humor)

 Contains a crystalline
lens located immediately
behind the iris
THE GLOBE
AP length of 22-26 mm (ave.24mm)
Circumference 69-81mm (ave.75mm at the
equator)

Volume of the globe = about 6ml

THE OUTER COAT
Composed of tough fibrous tissues shaped
as segments of 2 spheres:
o Transparent cornea (anterior 1/6)
o White opaque sclera (posterior 5/6)

The junction of the cornea and sclera known

as the corneoscleral limbus contains the
Trabecular Meshwork and Canal of Schlemm

Focusing light and protecting contents of the

globe
The Cornea
 Has an average
radius of curvature of
7.5mm
 Functions as the
MAIN refracting
structure of the eye
 Composed mostly of
collagen fibers
(transparent) regular
both in size and
arrangement
The Cornea
 It is thinnest at the center (0.5mm) and thickest
at the periphery (1.0mm)
The Cornea

 Has 5 layers:
o Epithelium
o Bowman’s layer
o Stroma
o Descemet’s
membrane
o Endothelium
The Corneal Epithelium
 Composed of
stratified squamous
epithelium, 5-6 layers

 Epithelial cells form

in the deepest layer,
become
progressively flatter
and are shed 7 days
later
Basal columnar cells Wing cells Stratified squamous cells
The Corneal Epithelium

 Basement membrane of the basal cells are

adherent to the Bowman’s layer, the
acellular anterior portion of the stroma,
resistant to passage foreign bodies or
infective organisms
The Corneal Stroma
 Form 90% of the
corneal thickness

 Contain regularly
shaped and sized
lamellae of collagen
fibers secreted by
interspersed
keratocytes
The Descemet’s
Membrane
 The basement membrane of the endothelial
cells of the cornea
 Terminates abruptly in the periphery of the
cornea forming SCHWALBE’S line, the anterior
border of the Trabecular Meshwork
The Endothelium
 Single layer of
mesothelium, the
apices of which are in
direct contact with
aqueous humor.

 Responsible for
deturgesence of the
stroma

 Does not regenerate in

adult humans
The Sclera
 Dense fibrous
collagenous structure
comprising the
posterior 5/6 of the
outer coat
 Is thickest at the region
surrounding the optic
nerve and thinnest
immediately posterior
to muscle insertion
The Sclera
The posterior scleral
foramen through which
the optic nerve exits is
cone shaped and bridged
by a sieve like structure,
the lamina cribrosa
Has three layers: the
episclera, stroma, lamina
fusca
 The Sclera
 The episclera is the outermost
layer of moderately vascularized
connective tissue. It is attenuated
posterior to the equator, making it
relatively avascular
 The scleral stroma is composed
of collagen fibers irregular in size
and arrangement
 The lamina fusca is the
innermost layer made of fine
collagen
Which is Cornea? Sclera?
The Corneoscleral
Limbus
 Is a transitional zone about 1.5mm in diameter
 Inner part of corneoscleral limbus is the
Trabecular Meshwork which is where aqueous
humor is drained
The Corneoscleral
Limbus
 Also contain the Canal of Schlemm, an oval channel
line by a single layer of endothelium that drain aqueous
humor from Trabecular Meshwork.
 25-35 collector channels connect with the Canal of
Schlemm which drain the aqueous humor to the
anterior ciliary and episcleral veins
THE MIDDLE COAT
 Composed of the iris, ciliary
body and choroid
 Iris limits the amount of
light entering the eye
 Ciliary body produces
aqueous and the
accomodation of the lens
 Choroid provides the blood
supply of the outer half of
the retina
 The Iris
 The iris is a diaphragm
that lies in front of the lens
and ciliary body
 The anterior surface is
divided by the collarette
into a central pupillary
zone and a peripheral
ciliary zone
 Composed of an anterior
stroma and a posterior
pigmented epithelium
 The Iris
 The anterior stroma
has 2 layers:
o Anterior border layer
composed of loose
collagen tissue densely
packed with pigmented
and nonpigmented cells.
o Stroma proper consists
of bundles of collagen
fibrils . It has more elastic
tissues and fewer
pigmented cells
The Iris
 The pigmented
epithelium has 2
layers of cells
densely packed with
melanin:
o The iris sphincter
muscles and dilator
muscles are located
between the iris
pigmented epithelium
and the stroma proper
The Iris
 Blood supply
- is formed by the 2 long posterior ciliary arteries and
7 anterior ciliary arteries
- at the iris root is found the major arterial circle of
the iris
- radial arteries travel the iris and form the minor
arterial circle at the area of the collarette
 The Ciliary Body
 Is a ring of tissue about
6mm wide located
posterior to the iris root
 Has 2 parts:
o The uveal portion
-is composed of 3 layers
of smooth muscles:
longitudinal, radial and
circular
-function is mostly for
accommodation
 The Ciliary Body
o The epithelial portion
-is divided into:
• pars plicata - forms the anterior
2mm and consists of 60-70 folds
on ciliary processes. Each ciliary
process is made of an outer
nonpigmented epithelium and an
inner pigmented epithelium.
Secretion of aqueous humor is
the main function of the
nonpigmented epithelium.
• pars plana - forms the posterior
4mm of the epithelial portion
 The Choroid
 Is the vascular sheet that
provides the blood supply of
the retinal pigment epithelium
and outer half of the retina
 Extends from ora serrata to the
optic nerve
 Composed of 3 layers of blood
vessels: the outer vascular
layer of Haller, middle vascular
layer of Sattler and
Choriocapillaris
 They are bounded by fibrous
tissues: the Lamina Fusca and
Bruch’s membrane
THE INNER COAT
 The Retina
 Receptor and
Processor of images
 Innermost film that
receives, modulates
and transmits light
impulses to form
images
The Retina
 Its anterior border is the ora serrata and
extends posteriorly up to the optic nerve
 Composed of the retinal pigment epithelium
and the sensory retina
The Retina
 The retinal pigment
epithelium is a
single layer of
hexagonal cells rich
in melanin pigment
which functions to
trap light
The Retina
 The sensory retina
is made of layers of
cells composed of
receptor neurons and
glial cells to receive,
modulate and
transmit images to
the brain
The Photoreceptors:
Rods & Cones
 Specialized receptors
which receives
images
 2 cell types: rods for
dark vision and cones
for light vision as well
as color vision
 Macular lutea (only
cones are found) –
temporal to the optic
disc
The Modulator Cells
 Light received by
photoreceptors are
then processed by
modulator cells

 3 types of cells:
bipolar, horizontal
and amacrine cells
The Modulator Cells
 Bipolar cell dendrites
attach to
photoreceptors and
the axons synapse
with ganglion cells
 The Modulator Cells
 Horizontal cell dendrites attach to
several adjacent photoreceptors
and the axons synapse with
several photoreceptors in a
distant part of the retina and some
to bipolar cells. Horizontal cells
act as condensers collecting
impulses from groups of
photoreceptors, integrate and
trigger a visual impulse
 The Modulator Cells
 Amacrine cells processes
are oriented in the opposite
direction in terms of light
transmission. Their
processes attach to groups
of ganglion cells and bipolar
cells. They are believed to
inhibit integration of visual
impulse
The Transmitter Cells:
Ganglion Cells
 Transmit the visual
impulses from bipolar and
amacrine cells to the
midbrain
 Physiologically, they
transmit either visual
impulses to the midbrain
(LGB) or afferent impulses
of the light reflex (IC)
 Axons of the ganglion cells
form the nerve fiber layer
The Transmitter Cells:
Ganglion Cells
 The nerve fibers from the
ganglion cells converge to
exit the eye through the
lamina cribrosa as the optic
nerve
 Intraocularly, it is viewed as
the vertically oval shaped
optic disc
 At the center of the disc is a
depression known as the
optic cup
The Supporting Cells:
Müller Cells
 Müller cells are large
astrocytes that
mechanically support
the retina
 Also known as retinal
“nurse cells” as they are
believed to provide the
retina enzymes used for
glycolysis
Regions of the
Retina
 Ora serrata
 Central retina (macular
lutea)
 Fovea centralis
 Peripheral retina
CHAMBERS OF
THE EYE
 Anterior chamber
–aqueous humor

 Posterior chamber
–aqueous humor

 Vitreous chamber
– vitreous humor
Aqueous Humor
 Fluid that fills the anterior
and posterior chamber
 Provides nutrients to the
avascular tissues
 Secreted by the
nonpigmented epithelium
of the ciliary body and
drained through the
Trabecular meshwork
 Volume is about 0.2mL
 Vitreous Humor
 Fills the vitreous cavity
 Attached firmly to the
periphery at the ora serrata
and posteriorly to the rim of
the optic nerve and the
central retina
 Mainly composed of salts,
protein, hyaluronic acid and
98% water
 Act as a refracting medium
and a volume filler of the eye
 LENS
 Crystalline lens is a
grossly transparent,
biconvex tissue
 More curved posteriorly
(radius of curvature of
about 6mm) than
anteriorly
 Refracting surface with a
refracting power of about
1/2 of the cornea
 LENS
 Composed of: lens
capsule, cells or lens
fibers with their nuclei at
the lens equator and
those with their nuclei
under the anterior
capsule, lens cortex, and
lens nucleus
 Held in place by zonules
of Zinn
LENS
 Lens capsule – envelopes the entire lens;
composed of thick anterior capsule & thin
posterior capsule
 Lens nucleus – innermost, central region
composed of lens fibers that are no longer
attached to the posterior capsule
 Lens cortex – composed of lens fibers that
have lost their nuclei near the equator of the
lens & their posterior processes attached to the
posterior capsule
ZONULES
 Suspensory ligament
of the lens
 Supports the lens in
position and
connects the lens to
the ciliary muscle
 Composed of fine
fibrils of modified
collagenous tissue
Thank You