Optics of the eye

Principles of Optics
• Speed of light in the air is 300,000 Km/second
• Visible spectrum is the limit to which a human
eye can see different wavelengths of light
• It ranges between 397nm to 723nm
• Adjacent to the visible zone, there are 2
invisible zones;
- Ultraviolet
- Infrared rays
When light rays strike the eyes, they either get;

• Reflected
• Absorbed or
• Passes through it with or without refraction
the degree of refraction depends on;
1.The angle of incidence
2.The refractive index of the medium
Refractive index = velocity of light in air
velocity of light in that medium
e.g velocity of light is glass – 200,000
Ref index of glass = 300,000/200,000 = 1.5
-Light rays passing from air to a denser medium are
refracted towards the perpendicular line and while
passing from the denser medium to air are refracted a
way fro the perpendicular line

-Convex lenses converge light rays

-Concave lenses diverge light rays

-Diopter is the unit of strength (power)of the lenses

-the power of the lens in diopters = the reciprocal of

its focal length in meters, i.e D= 1/f (m)
Refractive media of the eye
There are 4 refractive media in the eye;
1. The cornea = 1.38
2. the aqueous humor = 1.33
3. The lens =1.40
4. The vitreous humor = 1.34

power of the lens = 1 + 1

u v
u = object distance v = image distance
 therefore; 1/f = 1/u + 1/v
that is knowing the distance of object from the
eye and the image distance from the retina to
the lens, one can calculate the power of the lens

A Reduced eye is an eye with a simplified optics.

It has a single lens system placed 15-17 mm in
front of the retina, having a total power of 59 –
67 diopters.
Camera function of the eye
- an eye functions like a camera
-parallel rays falling on to the eye are brought to
focus on the retina
-retina is analogous to a sensitive film of a
camera
- the iris regulates the amount of light entering
in to the eye by adjusting the size of the pupil
similar to what the diaphragm of the camera
does
- images formed on both the retina and the film
in a camera are inverted
Retinal images
- they are normally inverted
-relative positions are corrected by the visual
cortex
- the size of the retinal image can be calculated
by the following formular;
size of object = Distance of object from the lens
size of image Distance of image from the lens
e.g size of object = 1meter, distance of object
from the lens nodal point =10meters, retinal
image from the nodal point = 17mm (0.017m)
Therefore, 1 = 10
size of image 0.017

size of image = 0.017 = 0.0017 = 1.7mm

10

Optic and visual axes

- an optical axis is a straight line joining the
anterior and posterior poles of the eye.
- a visual axis is a straight line joining the center
of the pupil to the fovea centralis
 Note that the visual axis is lateral to the
Principal and visual axes of the eye principal axis
• i-g = principal axis
• J-h = visual axis
Accommodation (near response)
• - it is a process in which the optical
system of the eye is adjusted to see
the near objects clearly
- normally the ciliary muscle relaxes
when distance object from 6meter
and above is brought to a focus on
the retina
- this condition is called emmatropia
- for light rays coming from an object
closer to eye, they are divergent rays
and will be focus behind the retina,
hence producing a blurred image
- for these rays to be focused on to the retina,
the ciliary muscle conracts and the lens
becomes more spherical thereby increasing its
refractive power. This process is called
Accommodation or near response or near reflex
Errors of Refraction
These occur as a result of the inability of the eye to
focus images on the retina correctly

Types
1. Hypermetropia (long sightedness)
2. Myopia (short sightedness)
3. Astigmatism (unequal curvature of the cornea)

** presbyopia is a physiological decrease in the

power of the lens that occurs due to old age, usually
above 40years of age
Hypermetropia
• - this is an optical defect in
which parallel rays are
brought to focus behind the
retina
- it is due either to a shorter
eye ball or an abnormal week
lens
- pt sees a distance object
clearly but not the near ones
Correction
convex lens
Myopia
• -it is an optical defect which light
rays are brought to a focus in
front of the retina.
- it is either due to an increase in
size of the eye or increase
curvature of the cornea or the
lens
- the patient sees closer objects
clearly but not the far ones

Correction
concave lens
 Astigmatism
Image of an Astigmatic eye
• -it is an optical defect in
which the curvature of the
cornea is not uniform
- it is usually due to
congenital disorder
• - light rays are refracted on
to different foci, leading to a
blurred image
Correction
cylindrical lenses
 Assignment
• Draw the diagram of an eye and indicate the
visual and principal axes
• What is Astigmatism? Mention the lens that
will suitably correct the defect
• Differentiate between myopia and
hypermetropia and mention their corrective
measures