Chapter 3 Anatomy of the

Eye
Sclera
 The white part of the eyeball
is called the sclera (say:
sklair-uh). The sclera is made
of a tough material and has the
important job of covering
most of the eyeball. Think of
the sclera as your eyeball's
outer coat.
Look very closely at the white of the eye, and you'll
see lines that look like tiny pink threads. These are
blood vessels, the tiny tubes that deliver blood, to the
sclera.
CORNEA
The part of the sclera in front of the colored part of the
eye is called the cornea (say: kor-nee-uh). Unlike the
rest of the sclera, which is white, the cornea is
transparent, or completely clear, which lets light travel
through it. The cornea helps the eye focus as light
makes its way through. It is a very important part of
the eye, but you can hardly see it because it's made of
clear tissue. Like clear glass, the cornea gives your eye
a clear window to view the world through
IRIS
Behind the cornea are the
iris and the pupil. The iris
(say: eye-riss) is the
colorful part of the eye.
When we say a person
has blue eyes, we really
mean the person has blue
irises!
PUPIL
The iris is a muscle. This allows the iris to control
how much light goes through the pupil (say: pyoo-
pul). The pupil is the black circle in the center of the
iris, and it lets light enter the eye. The pupils will get
smaller when a light shines near them and they'll open
wider when the light is gone.
 Between the iris and cornea is
the anterior (say: an-teer-ee-
ur) chamber. This chamber is
filled with a special
transparent fluid that gives the
eye oxygen, protein, and
glucose (a type of sugar in the
body) to keep it healthy.
TEARS
Our tears form a
protective layer at the
front of the eye and also
help to direct the light
coming into our eye.
After light enters the
pupil, it hits the lens. The
lens sits behind the iris
and is clear and colorless.
The lens' job is to focus
light rays on the back of
the eyeball - a part called
the retina (say: reh-tin-
uh).
Retina
 Your retina is in the very back
of the eye, past the vitreous
body. Though it's smaller than
a dime, it holds millions of
cells that are sensitive to light.
The retina takes the light the
eye receives and changes it
into nerve signals so the brain
can understand what the eye is
seeing.
The lens is suspended in the eye by a
bunch of fibers. These fibers are
attached to a muscle called the ciliary
(say: sih-lee-air-ee) muscle. The
ciliary muscle has the amazing job of
changing the shape of the lens. That's
right - the lens actually changes shape
right inside your eye!
VITREOUS BODY

The biggest part of the eye sits behind the lens and is
called the vitreous (say: vih-tree-us) body. The
vitreous body forms two thirds of the eye's volume and
gives the eye its shape. It's filled with a clear, jelly-like
material called the vitreous humor. Ever touch toy
eyeballs in a store? Sometimes they're kind of squishy
- that's because they're made to feel like they're filled
with vitreous humor. In a real eye, after light passes
through the lens, it shines straight through the vitreous
humor to the back of the eye.
 Rods and Cones
The retina uses special cells called
rods and cones to process light.
Just how many rods and cones
does your retina have? How about
120 million rods and 7 million
cones - in each eye!
Rods and cones are most sensitive
to yellow-green light.
RODS
Rods see in black, white, and
shades of gray and tell us the
form or shape that something
has. Rods can't tell the
difference between colors, but
they are super-sensitive,
allowing us to see when it's
very dark.
CONES
Cones sense color and
they need more light than
rods to work well. Cones
are most helpful in
normal or bright light.
The retina has three types of cones - red, green, and
blue - to help you see different ranges of color.
Together, these cones can sense combinations of light
waves that enable our eyes to see millions of colors.
To the Brain
Think of the optic nerve as the great messenger in the
back of your eye. The rods and cones of the retina
change the colors and shapes you see into millions of
nerve messages. Then, the optic nerve carries those
messages from the eye to the brain! The optic nerve
serves as a high-speed telephone line connecting the
eye to the brain.
The lens
The human eye can
change the shape of the
lens automatically.
The range of change that
the lens can accomplish
varies from person to
person.
Eye Injuries and Eye Protection
account for 1% of sports injuries
hockey,
Racquet sports: squash,tennis,badminton
baseball,cricket
Basketball
soccer
 Orbital Injuries

 Blow out# from direct trauma such as

cricket ball,fist,squash ball.
 Compression of globe & orbital
contents produce #of weakst prt of
orbit-floor
 Pt presnt wid priorbital hematoma,
protruding or sunken eyes, double
vision on upward gaze due to
entraptmnt of inf. Rectus ms.
Corneal injuries

 Include abrasion(most common due 2

finger nail scratch),foreign body nd
less comnly alkali burn
 Treatmnt of corneal abrasion is
instillation of antibiotic eye
drops(chloramphenicol) and padding of
eye
 Foreign body cn be removd with cotton
tip applicator by trained practitioner nd
if too deep refer opthalmologist
 For Alkali burn irrigate d eye with
saline or tap water for 15-20min
Subconjunctival hemorrhage

Trauma to conjunctiva
Unless it is extensive or
presence of photophobia,
it is not significnt
Record B.P
Eyelid injuries
 Direct trauma to eyelid may
cause large amount of bruising
tht shud be treated with cold
compression
 Coexisting orbital # shud be
ruled out
 Laceration of eyelid require
surgical repair
 Trauma near medial canthus may
lacerate upper and lower
lacrimal gland and may cause
permanent watering of eye
 Hyphema
Bleeding into the anterior chamber
resulting from ruptured iris vessel
More significant bleed will presnt with
a clear layer in anterior chamber
Hyphema affecting visual acuity
should be refferd to the
ophthalmologist
Aim of t/t is to prevent further bleed
which may result in uncontrollable
glaucoma
Pt shud rest and hemorrhage shud
settle in 4-5 dyz
 Lens dislocation
Blunt trauma is the cause
Partial dislocation cause few
symptoms but complete
dislocaton results in blurred
vision and quivering of iris on
movmnt of eye
Iritis or Glaucoma are
possible squeal
Vitreous hemorrhage
Bleeding into vitreous humor
signifies damage to retina,
choroid or ciliary body.
Leading to hazy apperance
Bed rest and in severe cases
removal of blood and
vitreous humor
Retinal hemorrhage
Injury of retina can be due to direct trauma or blow to
the back of the head
Valsalva maneuver(eg: weightlifting ) may produce
retinal edema and hemorrhage
Pt. may remain asymtomatic if peripheral area of retina
are involved
Central retinal hemorrhage produces blurred vision
Boxers may develop atrophic maculor holes and loss
of central vision as a result of recurrent contusive
injuries
Retinal detachment
Result from blunt or perforating trauma and can occur
months or years after initial trauma
Pt. complain of flashes of light or appearance of a
curtain spreading across the visual field
Examination reveal elevation and folding of detached
part
Immediate surgery is indicated
An unusual case of retinal detachment in sports is
swimmer receiving accidental blow on the goggles