Liz is a medical writer and illustrator with an MSc in Medical Art and a BA in Medical Illustration focusing on pre-medical sciences. She has worked with healthcare professionals and educators globally creating anatomically accurate learning materials.
The Eye
The eye is the complex, spherical organ that allows us to see the world around us by reacting to light and working with our brain. It is a bilateral organ, meaning there is one on each side of our face.
Anatomy Charts to Support Learning
For a deeper understanding of the function and structure of the eye, our anatomical charts and posters provide clear, detailed illustrations. These educational resources make learning more engaging and visually stimulating, whether you're a student, lecturer, or ophthalmologist.
Anatomy of the Eye
The eye is made up of three major layers: the fibrous tunic, vascular tunic and the retina.
The fibrous tunic is the outer most layer of the eye composed of the sclera and cornea. The sclera is consistent with the cornea and is known as the “white of your eye”, maintaining the shape of the organ and serving as an attachment site to the extraocular muscles.
The vascular tunic (also known as the middle layer) is composed of the choroid, iris and ciliary body. The choroid serves as the major blood supply for the outer retina. The iris is the coloured part of your eye located around the pupil and between the cornea and the lens. The iris gets its colour from melanin. The ciliary body is an extension of the iris and produces the aqueous humour, the fluid that fills out eyeballs.
The retina (also known as the inner layer) is the layer of tissue that lines the back of the eye near the optic nerve. The retina is the part of the eye that enable vision by receiving light from the lens and transmitting signals to your brain for visual recognition.
Muscles of the Eye
Each eye consists of several important muscles responsible for movement including the levator palpebrae superioris as well as six extraocular muscles and three intraocular muscles. The levator palpebrae superioris elevates your upper eyelid and maintains your eyelid’s position.
The extraocular muscles include the medial rectus, lateral rectus, superior rectus, inferior rectus, superior oblique and inferior oblique. The medial rectus muscle is the largest of the extraocular muscles and pulls the eye in a medial direction. The lateral rectus muscle moves the eye in a lateral direction, the superior rectus muscle pulls the eye upward and the inferior rectus muscle moves the eye downwards. The superior oblique muscle also moves the eye downwards. The inferior oblique muscle elevates and abducts the eye.
The intraocular muscles are the sphincter pupillae, dilator pupillae and the ciliary muscle. The sphincter pupillae (also known as the iris sphincter muscle) is located in the iris, encircling the pupil and constricts the pupil when it is exposed to bright light. The dilator pupillae muscle does just the opposite, increasing the size of the pupil to let more light in when the environment is dark. The ciliary muscle controls focus, changing the thickness and curvature of the eye’s lens.
Explore Anatomical Models
Understanding the complex structure of the eye is easier with a high-quality anatomical model. Our detailed eye anatomy models provide an accurate, three-dimensional representation, allowing you to study the structure in a hands-on way. Perfect for medical students, ophthalmologists, and educators, our models enhance learning and make complex anatomy more accessible.
How Vision Works
The process of vision is remarkably similar to how a camera operates - capturing light and converting it into an image. It begins when light enters through the cornea, the transparent front layer that helps to focus incoming rays. From there, it moves through the pupil, the central opening that adjusts its size depending on light levels, and then reaches the lens, which fine-tunes the focus by changing shape.
Once focused, the light continues its journey through the vitreous humour – a clear, gel-like substance that fills the central chamber and helps maintain the structure of the globe. Finally, the light lands on the retina, a thin layer of tissue located at the back of the internal cavity, rich with photoreceptor cells.
These specialised cells - rods for low light and cones for colour and detail - convert light signals into electrical impulses. These impulses are transmitted along the optic nerve (cranial nerve II), which acts like a high-speed cable delivering visual data directly to the brain. There, the information is processed and interpreted, allowing us to perceive images, recognise faces, detect motion, and interact with the world around us.
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Visual Aids to better Understand the Eye
Understanding anatomy can be far more effective with high quality visual tools. Our range of anatomical models, posters and revision guides allow students and professionals to deepen their understanding through visual and tactile learning. Whether you're preparing for an exam, teaching a class, or working in a clinical setting, our resources provide a practical and engaging way to study human anatomy.
