The eye

Introduction - The eye is the organ of sight. It is situated in the orbital cavity and supplied by the optic nerve
(2nd cranial nerve). It is almost spherical in shape and about 2.5 cm in diameter. The space between the eye and
the orbital cavity is occupied by adipose tissue. The bony walls of the orbit and the fat protect the eye from
injury.
Definition - The eye is an organ that detects light and sends signals along the optic nerve to the brain. In
humans, the eye is a valuable sense organ that gives us the ability to see. It allows for light perception and
vision, including the ability to differentiate between colours and depth.
Structure –

There are three layers of tissue in the walls of the eye:

• the outer fibrous layer: sclera and cornea
• the middle vascular layer or uveal tract: consisting of the choroid, ciliary body and iris
• the inner nervous tissue layer: the retina.
Sclera
Structure -
The sclera is the part of the eye commonly known as the “white.” It forms the supporting wall of the eyeball,
and is continuous with the clear cornea.The sclera is covered by the conjunctiva, a clear mucus membrane that
helps lubricate the eye. It is thickest in the area surrounding the optic nerve. The sclera is made up of three
divisions: the episclera, loose connective tissue, immediately beneath the conjunctiva; sclera proper, the dense
white tissue that gives the area its color; and the lamina fusca, the innermost zone made up of elastic fibers.
Functions – 1. The sclera, along with the intraocular pressure (IOP) of the eye, maintains the shape of the
eyeball.
1. The tough, fibrous nature of the sclera also protects the eye from serious damage — such as laceration
or rupture — from external trauma.
2. The sclera also provides a sturdy attachment for the extraocular muscles that control the movement of
the eyes.
Cornea
Structure - the cornea is clear and seems to lack substance, it is actually a highly organized group of cells and
proteins. Unlike most tissues in the body, the cornea contains no blood vessels to nourish or protect it against
infection. The corneal tissue is arranged in five basic layers, each having an important function. These five
layers are: Epithelium, Bowman's Layer, Stroma, Descemet's Membrane, Endothelium.
Functions –
1. It helps to shield the rest of the eye from germs, dust, and other harmful matter. The cornea shares this
protective task with the eyelids, the eye socket, tears, and the white part of the eye (sclera).
2. The cornea acts as the eye's outermost lens. It functions like a window that controls and focuses the entry of
light into the eye. The cornea contributes between 65- 75 percent of the eye's total focusing power.
Choroid
Structure - The choroid consists mainly of a dense capillary plexus, and of small arteries and veins carrying
blood to and returning it from this plexus. On its external surface is a thin membrane, the  lamina
suprachorioidea, composed of delicate non-vascular lamellæ—each lamella consisting of a net-work of fine
elastic fibers among which are branched pigment cells. The spaces between the lamellæ are lined by
endothelium, and open freely into the perichoroidal lymph space, which, in its turn, communicates with the
periscleral space by the perforations in the sclera through which the vessels and nerves are transmitted.
Functions –
1. It is richly supplied with blood for providing nourishment to the eye.

2. It contains a dark pigment which prevents light rays from reflecting and scattering inside eye.

Ciliary body
Structure – The ciliary body is the anterior continuation of the choroid consisting of ciliary muscle (smooth
muscle fibres) and secretory epithelial cells. As many of the smooth muscle fibres are circular, the ciliary
muscle acts like a sphincter. The lens is attached to the ciliary body by radiating suspensory ligaments, like the
spokes of a wheel.
Functions - has three functions: accommodation, aqueous humor production and the resorption, and
maintenance of the lens zonules. It also anchors the lens in place.
1. Accommodation essentially means that when the ciliary muscle contracts, the lens becomes more
convex, generally improving the focus for closer objects. When it relaxes it flattens the lens, generally
improving the focus for farther objects.
2. One of the essential roles of the ciliary body is also the production of the aqueous humor, which is
responsible for providing most of the nutrients for the lens and the cornea and involved in waste
management of these areas.
Iris
Structure - The iris is a flat and ring-shaped membrane behind the cornea of the eye with an adjustable circular
opening in the center called a pupil. This is the structure that provides an individual with eye color.Together
with the pupil, the iris is responsible for regulating the amount of light that gets into the eye. Too much or too
little light can hamper vision. The muscular iris moves to shrink the pupil if there is too much light and widen it
if there is not enough. This is an involuntary function, controlled by the brain.The iris is made almost entirely of
connective tissue and smooth muscle fibers.
Functions –
1. Via dilation (opening) and constriction (closing), the iris plays a key role in regulating the amount of
light that accesses the retina in the back of the eye.
2. In addition, the structure performs the “accommodation reflex,” which is the eye’s involuntary ability to
switch focus from objects that are nearby versus far away.
Lens
Structure - The lens is located in the eye. By changing its shape, the lens changes the focal distance of the eye.
In other words, it focuses the light rays that pass through it (and onto the retina) in order to create clear images
of objects that are positioned at various distances. It also works together with the cornea to refract, or bend,
light.
The lens is of ellipsoid, biconvex shape. An ellipsoid is similar to a sphere but stretched out, like an olive, and
biconvex means it’s rounded outward on both sides. The lens is about 10 mm across and 4 mm from front to
back in adults, although its shape and size varies as it changes its focus.
The lens consists of the lens capsule, the lens epithelium, and the lens fibers. The lens capsule is the smooth,
transparent outermost layer of the lens, while the lens fibers are long, thin, transparent cells that form the bulk
of the lens. The lens epithelium lies between these two and is responsible for the stable functioning of the lens.
It also creates lens fibers for the lifelong growth of the lens.
Function –
1. The lens works much like a camera lens, bending and focusing light to produce a clear image. The
cornea does most of the focusing for the eye, but the lens provides the final third of this focusing effort,
bending and focusing light into the retina for processing and translation into an image at the is at last
translated by the optic nerve.
2. The lens has the ability to change shape and focus images at various distances in a process called
accommodation.
Retina
Structure - The retina is the innermost lining of the eye (Fig. 8.8). It is an extremely delicate structure and well
adapted for stimulation by light rays. It is composed of several layers of nerve cell bodies and their axons, lying
on a pigmented layer of epithelial cells. The light-sensitive layer consists of sensory receptor cells, rods and
cones, which contain photosensitive pigments that convert light rays into nerve impulses. The retina lines about
three-quarters of the eyeball and is thickest at the back. It thins out anteriorly to end just behind the ciliary
body. Near the centre of the posterior part is the macula lutea, or yellow spot (Figs 8.11A and 8.12). In the
centre of the yellow spot is a little depression called the fovea centralis, consisting of only cones. Towards the
anterior part of the retina there are fewer cones than rods. About 0.5 cm to the nasal side of the macula lutea all
the nerve fibres of the retina converge to form the optic nerve. The small area of retina where the optic nerve
leaves the eye is the optic disc or blind spot. It has no light sensitive cells.
Function –
1. The retina translates an optical image into neural impulses starting with the patterned excitation of the
colour- sensitive pigments of its rods and cones, the retina's photoreceptor cells.
2. The cones respond to bright light and mediate high-resolution colour vision during daylight illumination
(also called photopic vision).
3. The rod responses are saturated at daylight levels and don't contribute to pattern vision. However, rods
do respond to dim light and mediate lower-resolution, monochromatic vision under very low levels of
illumination (called scotopic vision).
4. The illumination in most office settings falls between these two levels and is called mesopic vision. At
mesopic light levels, both the rods and cones are actively contributing pattern information.

Function of Eye –
1. Light enters the eye through the cornea, the clear front surface of the eye, which acts like a camera lens.
2. The iris works much like the diaphragm of a camera--controlling how much light reaches the back of
the eye. It does this by automatically adjusting the size of the pupil which, in this scenario, functions
like a camera's aperture.
3. The eye’s crystalline lens sits just behind the pupil and acts like autofocus camera lens, focusing on
close and approaching objects.
4. Focused by the cornea and the crystalline lens, the light makes its way to the retina. This is the light-
sensitive lining in the back of the eye. Think of the retina as the electronic image sensor of a digital
camera. Its job is to convert images into electronic signals and send them to the optic nerve.
5. The optic nerve then transmits these signals to the visual cortex of the brain which creates our sense of
sight.
 The Ear
Introduction - The ear is the organ of hearing and is also involved in balance. It is supplied by the 8th cranial
nerve, i.e. the cochlear part of the vestibulocochlear nerve, which is stimulated by vibrations caused by sound
waves. With the exception of the auricle (pinna), the structures that form the ear are encased within the petrous
portion of the temporal bone.
Definition - Human ear is the organ of hearing and equilibrium that detects and
analyzes sound by transduction (or the conversion of sound waves into electrochemical impulses) and maintains
the sense of balance (equilibrium).
Structure –

The ear is divided into three distinct parts : the outer ear, middle ear (tympanic cavity) and inner ear.
Outer ear
The outer ear consists of the auricle (pinna) and the external acoustic meatus (auditory canal).
Auricle(pinna)
Structure- It is composed of fibroelastic cartilage covered with skin. It is deeply grooved and ridged; the most
prominent outer ridge is the helix. The lobule (earlobe) is the soft pliable part at the lower extremity, composed
of fibrous and adipose tissue richly supplied with blood.
Function -
It collects sound waves and channels them into the ear canal (external auditory meatus), where the sound is
amplified.
the external acoustic meatus (auditory canal)
structure – This is a slightly ‘S’-shaped tube about 2.5 cm long extending from the auricle to the tympanic
membrane (eardrum). The lateral third is embedded in cartilage and the remainder lies within the temporal
bone. The meatus is lined with skin continuous with that of the auricle. There are numerous ceruminous glands
and hair follicles, with associated sebaceous glands, in the skin of the lateral third. Ceruminous glands are
modified sweat glands that secrete cerumen (earwax), a sticky material containing protective substances
including the bacteriocidal enzyme lysozyme and immunoglobulins.
Function - Once the sound waves have passed the pinna, they move two to three centimetres into the
auditory canal before hitting the eardrum, also known as the tympanic membrane. The function of
the ear canal is to transmit sound from the pinna to the eardrum.  

Middle ear (tympanic cavity)

The middle ear is the part of the ear between the eardrum and the oval window. The middle ear
transmits sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The middle ear consists of three bones: the
hammer (malleus), the anvil (incus) and the stirrup (stapes), the oval window, the round window
and the Eustachian tube.
Eardrum
Structure -
The malleus. This is the lateral hammer-shaped bone. The handle is in contact with the tympanic membrane and
the head forms a movable joint with the incus.
The incus. This is the middle anvil-shaped bone. Its body articulates with the malleus, the long process with the
stapes, and it is stabilised by the short process, fixed by fibrous tissue to the posterior wall of the tympanic
cavity.
The stapes. This is the medial stirrup-shaped bone. Its head articulates with the incus and its footplate fits into
the oval window.
Functions - The vibrations are transmitted further into the ear via three bones in the middle ear: the
hammer (malleus), the anvil (incus) and the stirrup (stapes). These three bones form a kind of
bridge, and the stirrup, which is the last bone that sounds reach, is connected to the oval window.
Oval window
Structure - The oval window is a membrane covering the entrance to the cochlea in the inner ear.
When the eardrum vibrates, the sound waves travel via the hammer and anvil to the stirrup and then
on to the oval window.
Function - When the sound waves are transmitted from the eardrum to the oval window, the middle
ear is functioning as an acoustic transformer amplifying the sound waves before they move on into
the inner ear. The pressure of the sound waves on the oval window is some 20 times higher than on
the eardrum.
Round window - The round window in the middle ear vibrates in opposite phase to vibrations
entering the inner ear through the oval window. In doing so, it allows fluid in the cochlea to move.
Eustachian tube
Structure - The Eustachian tube is also found in the middle ear, and connects the ear with the
rearmost part of the palate.
Function - The Eustachian tube’s function is to equalise the air pressure on both sides of the
eardrum, ensuring that pressure does not build up in the ear. The tube opens when we swallow, thus
equalising the air pressure inside and outside the ear.
Inner ear
The inner ear or labyrinth (meaning ‘maze’) contains the organs of hearing and balance. It is described in two
parts, the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth and is divided into three main regions:
• the vestibule, containing the utricle and saccule
• three semicircular canals
• the cochlea.
the vestibule
structure - This is the expanded part nearest the middle ear. The oval and round windows are located in its
lateral wall. It contains two membranous sacs, the utricle and the saccule, which are important in balance.
Function –
1. The vestibule's main function is to detect changes in gravity and linear acceleration. So, for example,
structures in the vestibule are responsible for telling you if you're standing up straight or if you are
upside down.
 2. The vestibule also helps you sense when you're going up or down in an elevator or feel acceleration
when you step on the gas in your car. The vestibule helps you determine the tilt of your head even when
your eyes are closed.
The semi circular canals
Structure - These are three tubes arranged so that one is situated in each of the three planes of space. They are
continuous with the vestibule and are also important in balance.
Function - The semicircular ducts are specialized for the detection of angular acceleration—that is,
movements of yaw, pitch, or roll (eg, rotation, nodding, or lateral bending of the head). This results from the
sensitivity of individual crista to fluid movement within their respective canal.
The cochlea
Structure - This resembles a snail’s shell. It has a broad base where it is continuous with the vestibule and a
narrow apex, and it spirals round a central bony column. A cross-section of the cochlea (Fig. 8.5) contains three
compartments: • the scala vestibuli
• the scala media, or cochlear duct
• the scala tympani.
Function - Its function is to equalize the air pressure inside the middle ear with the external air pressure. a. a
snail-shaped structure within the temporal bone. Sound vibrations are transferred to the fluid in the cochlea via
the stapes at the oval window; termination is at the round window.
Function of the ear –
Hearing
Sound waves travel through the outer ear, are modulated by the middle ear, and are transmitted to the
vestibulocochlear nerve in the inner ear. This nerve transmits information to the temporal lobe of the brain,
where it is registered as sound.
Balance
Providing balance, when moving or stationary, is also a central function of the ear. The ear facilitates two types
of balance: static balance, which allows a person to feel the effects of gravity, and dynamic balance, which
allows a person to sense acceleration.