Visual System

The eye is a complex structure that allows the brain to receive visual information
There are 3 important compounds of the visual system
1. The eye - to focus the image of the outside world on the retina
2. Nerves - to carry information deep into the brain
3. Visual cortex - to put together all signals

The Physiological Optics of the eye

- Cornea = is an optically clear membrane that holds in place the fluids inside the eye
- Aqueous humor = fluid that keeps the eye inflated. Located between the cornea and the lens, consists of
mainly water
- Lens = the outer edge of the lens is attached to the ciliary muscles which exerts a transvers tension on
the lens
- Vitreous humor = fluid that keeps the eye inflated.
- Pupil = is the aperture through which light passes. It controls the amount of light reaching the back of
the eye by a factor of about 30. the diameter of the pupil has a significant impact on the perceived field
depth and clarity of an object.
- Retina = is the layer of tissue lining the back of the eye, which is covered with rods and cones.
Receptors convert light into nerve impulses that travel to the visual cortex where they are interpreted

Reflection and Refraction of Light

○ Refraction - Snell's law - the analytical relationship between the angle of incidence and the angle of
refraction
○ Reflection of light = the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection are equal to each other and both
rays and the perpendicular to the interface from one plane.

Index of Refraction
- Absolute refractive index = is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a given
medium
- Relative index of refraction = is the ratio of the speed of light in a given medium of reference other than
a vacuum to the speed of light in a given medium

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Types of Lenses
→ Converging lens
○ Double convex
○ Plano-convex
○ Convex meniscus
→ Diverging lens
○ Double concave
○ Plano-concave
○ Concave meniscus
Types of corrective lenses
> Spherical lenses = stigmatic lenses
Equal curvatures at all meridians
> Cylindrical or toric lenses = astigmatic lenses
One meridian is curved more than all other ones

Cylindrical lenses = a curved surface on a cylindrical lens is shaped like a cylinder

Used to focus or expand light in a variety of laser and light-based equipment for applications, such as laser
scanning optical metrology systems, laser alignment and inspection tools, and laser additive manufacturing
and laser processing equipment.

Toric lenses contain a cylinder component. Have 2 different optical powers at right angles to each other. They
are thicker in one meridian to enable the lens to maintain proper orientation on the eye.

Refracting Power of The Eye

- Cornea; contributes to approx. 2/3 of the refracting power of the eye and bout 43 dioptres
- The lens; contributes to 1/3 of the refractive power of the eye and about 20 dioptres. It is more powerful
than the cornea as a convergent surface
- The total convergence power of the eye is 58.7 dioptres

Aberrations = is a failure of the rays from a point of source to form a single point image after transversing an
optical image
- Spherical aberration = nonparaxial rays are not focused at the focal point
- Chromatic aberration = a phenomenon in which light rays passing through a lens focus at different
points

Chromatic aberrations
• Chromatic aberration is alleviated by the presence of a yellowish pigment
(macula lutea) in the fovea
○ The pigment protects from chromatic aberration by absorption of blue light
○ This colorant partially filters out the light of longer and shorter wavelengths that contribute most
strongly to chromatic aberrations

Ageing of the Lens

The optical density (-log transmittance) of the lens as a function of wavelength. The curves show the change
in density with age. More short wavelength light is blocked at increased ages

Transmittance of the Optics of the Eye

- The optics of the eye is not completely transparent across the
range of visible wavelengths,
- Even though almost all red light incident on the cornea reaches
the retina, significant fraction of light toward the blue end of the
spectrum does not,
- The amount of light that is absorbed changes as the eye age.
• all of the optical components, including the aqueous and
vitreous, act as band-pass filters.
- The cornea and the vitrei have bandwidths, that essentially
exceed the visible spectrum.
- The lens has significant absorption at the blue end of the visible
spectrum, cutting off most of the light below 400 nm

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Astigmatism = is an optical aberration which occurs when the optical system of the eye has different
focal lengths for light rays striking it in different planes . This is due to the asymmetry in the curvature of
the cornea

Emmetropic eye = the power of the eye's optical system matches its length

Physical Basis of Myopia

- Structural/axial myopia : the anteroposterior (AP) diameter of the eye is longer than normal (more
than 24mm)
- Curvature myopia : the AP diameter is normal, decreased cornea curvature, increased lens
curvature
- Index of Refraction myopia: occurs with nuclear sclerosis
- Increased refractive power of the central portion of the lens

Vison Defects
⚫ Myopia (near-sightedness) = visual images focus in front of the retina, vision is better near than far,
cornea too flat, eyeball too long
⚫ Hyperopia (farsightedness) = visual images focused behind the eye, vision is better far than near,
cornea is too flat, eyeball is too short
⚫ Astigmatism = defect causing rays from a point to fail to meet in a single focal point, resulting in an
imperfect blurred or smeared image

Physical Basis of Hyperopia

- Structural/axial hyperopia : the most common type of hyperopia, AP diameter of the eye is shorter
than normal,
- Curvature hyperopia : lens or cornea is weaker than normal, lower refractive power or
convergence occurs
- Index of refractive : occurs due to an decrease in the index of refraction in any part of the optical
system of the eye

Accommodation = is the eye's ability to change shape and focus when looking at objects up close or far
away . It results from increased curvature of the lens due to contraction of the ciliary muscle. The
stimulus to accommodation is a blurred retinal image

Components of Accommodation
- Accommodation of the lenses = changes in the refractory power of the lens so that the diverging
light rays are bent more sharply. The more spherical and curved a lens, the shorter the focal length,
which focuses the light just right
- Constriction of the pupils = the circular muscles of the iris enhance the effect of accommodation by
reducing the size of the pupil. Constriction keeps the most diverging light from
entering the eye and making the image blurry due to lack of proper focus. This
effectively makes the eye act like a pinhole camera and increases the clarity and
depth of focus
- Convergence of the eyeball = when we fixate our eyes on a close object our eyes must converge
and point toward the object for best clarity. Therefore, the medial rectus muscles rotate the
eyeball so each is pointing toward the object being viewed. When the object is too
close, such as your nose, you "go cross-eyed."

Range of Accommodation
○ Normal human eyes can focus on objects that are from about 25 cm away from the eye (smin) up to
infinitely far away (smax).
○ A hyperopic eye can only see to a near point that has a corresponding distance smin > 25 cm.
○ Myopic eyes can see things very well that are close to the eye, but have difficulty keeping the object
focused as it moves further away from the eye. The point at which the eye can no longer focus on
the object is called the eye’s far point, and is at a distance we shall denote smax.

The range of objects distances over which an eye can bring objects into focus is defined by 2 points:
- Near point = is the closest point from the eye at which an objects can be clearly seen
○ For a normal eye = 25cm
○ To focus on an object at the near point, the eye should be fully accommodated
- Far point = is the farthest point from an eye at which an object can be clearly seen
○ For a normal eye = ∞
○ To focus on an object at far point, the eye should be relaxed

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Refractive Status of the Eye
Error of Refraction

Amplitude of Accommodation = is a measure of the power of accommodation

The amplitude of accommodation is the difference expressed in dioptre between the farthest
point and nearest point distance

Presbyopia
It’s the physiologic decrease in the amplitude of accommodation
associated with aging. There is less bulging of the lens with accommodation due to a change in
the crystallins of the lens that result in a decrease in the elasticity of the lens fibres or hardening
of the lens.

Rules of Matching Corrective Lenses

If the error of refraction for an eye is equal to R and the corrective lens is placed at the distance l
in front of the eye, the power of a corrective lens is:

THE PUPIL
The pupil reduces the amount of light that enters the eye. It decreases the
aberrations. It increases the depth of field when constricting

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