visual system Flashcards
What is the anatomy of the external eye?
-Pupil in centre, iris around it, sclera (white), lateral and median canthus, caruncle medially, upper/lower eyelid, palpebral fissure above. Limbus (border between cornea & sclera)
What is the lacrimal system? How does it work?
-Tear produced by lacrimal gland over eye, drains medially via 2 puncta to open to medial lid margin, flow via superior & inferior canaliculi to reach tear sac where they exit via duct to nasal cavity
What is the basis of tears? What are the afferent, efferent and neurotransmitter involved?
- Tears are basal, reflex and emotional.
- Afferent is cornea, cranial nerve V1 (trigeminal ophthalmic).
- Efferent is parasympathetic with acetylcholine neurotransmitter
What are the functions of the tear film?
- Tear film is most superficial part of eye.
- Maintains smooth cornea air surface & provides oxygen to cornea (avascular), removal of debris & releases bactericide
What is the structure of the tear film and their respective functions?
-3 layers: superficial lipid layer (reduces tear film evaporation), water layer (thickest - tear gland), mucinous layer (keeps tear film close to eye, maintains surface wetting)
What is conjunctiva? Where is it? What is it nourished by? When do these become visible?
- Conjuctiva is the thin transparent tissue covering outer surface of eye.
- Begins at outer edge of cornea, covers visible part of eye & lines inside of eyelids.
- Nourished by tiny blood vessels that aren’t visible except in conjuctivitis
What are the 3 layers of the coat of the eye from superficial to deep + what are they?
Sclera (hard and opaque), choroid (pigmented & vascular), retina (neurosensory tissue)
What is the sclera? Its structure? Its function?
- White part of the eye, tough and opaque.
- When it comes to front of eye seamlessly changes into cornea.
- Function is outer protective coat with high water content
What is the cornea? Its function?
- Cornea is transparent dome shaped window covering front of eye.
- protection of eye, contributes to refractive power, clear window to look through (focuses light on retina)
What is the structure of the cornea (layers) + their functions?
5 layers:
- epithelium
- bowman’s membrane
- stroma (collagen fibres for transparency)
- descemet’s membrane
- endothelium (pumps fluid out of cornea preventing corneal oedema)
Does the cornea have blood vessels? How does cornea get oxygen & glucose?
- Cornea has no blood vessels.
- Oxygen from air and glucose produced by fluid sitting between iris & cornea and is absorbed by endothelium
What happens when you hydrate the cornea?
becomes white
What is the uvea? What happens in disease of one part?
- Uvea is the vascular coat of eyeball that lies between sclera and retina.
- Has 3 parts: iris, ciliary body and choroid.
- These are connected so disease of one affects other portions too ( to different degrees)
Where is the choroid and what is it composed of?
- Lies between retina and sclera.
- Made of layers of blood vessels that nourish the back of the eye
What does the iris do and how?
Iris controls light levels inside the eye, has tiny muscles that dilate and constrict pupil size
What is the structure of the lens? What are its functions?
- Has outer acellular capsule and regular inner elongated cell fibres.
- Function is to accommodate for long and near distance (focus), transparency, focusing power, refractive power, elasticity.
What is the retina? What is its function?
- Retina is very thin layer in inner part of eye.
- Captures light rays, which are then sent to brain for processing via optic nerve
Where is optic nerve? What is its function? Why is it blind spot of eye?
- Nerve that transmits electrical impulses from retina to brain.
- Connects to back of eye near macula, with visible part being optic disc.
- Blind spot of eye because where it meets retina there are no light sensitive cells
Where is the macula? What is its function?
- Macula is in centre of retina, temporal to optic nerve.
- Small & sensitive part of retina responsible for detailed central vision.
- To appreciate detail & perform tasks like reading requiring central vision
What is in the centre of the macula? What is its structure and what does it do?
-Fovea is centre of macula, most sensitive part with highest concentration of cones (to perceive in detail) and low concentration of rods
What is central vision for? What is it assessed by? What is another name for it & what does loss of this vision lead to?
- central vision for detailed day vision, colour vision, reading, face recognition.
- foveal vision
- Assessed by visual acuity test.
- Foveal vision loss leads to poor visual acuity
What is peripheral vision? What is it assessed by? If we lose this vision what happens?
- Peripheral vision for shape, movement, night vision, navigation.
- Assessed by visual field assessment.
- Loss of visual field inability to navigate (may need stick)
What is the structure of the retina (layers) and their functions?
- Retinal outer layer has photoreceptors (1st order neurone to detect light).
- Middle layer has bipolar cells (2nd order neurone) for local signal processing to improve contrast sensitivity & regulate sensitivity.
- Inner layers has retinal ganglion cells (3rd order neurone) for transmission of signal from eye to brain (via optic nerve)
What are the 2 types of photoreceptors?
rods & cones