459 - March 2022

MARCH 2022 | The Surgical Technologist | 113 Age-RelatedMacular Degeneration L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S s Read about the studies involving age-related eye disease s Review the anatomy and epidemiology of AMD s Explore the stages of age-related macular degeneration s Learn about the symptoms and detection methods of AMD s Evaluate the treatment methods for this type of disease O C U L A R A N A T O M Y T he eye consists of three layers – outer fibrous tunic, middle vascular tunic, and inner nervous tunic (see Figure 1). The cornea, referred to as the window of the eye, is part of the outer tunic. The function of the cornea is to focus the entering light rays. It is composed of connective tissue whose surface is covered by a thin layer of epithelium. Because the cornea contains no blood vessels it is transparent. However, the cornea has a good supply of sensory nerve fibers that enter at its margins and radiate to the center. The fibers include cold and pain receptors, but no heat or touch receptors. The lens are a part of the middle tunic. Delicate fibers called the zonules or suspensory ligaments project inward from the ciliary pro- cesses to hold the lens in place. The lens is positioned directly pos- terior to the iris and pupil. It consists of columnar epithelial cells, Kimberly Batchelor, cst The eyes of the human body serve to send a photographic memory to our brain. Essentially the connection between the eyes and brain is one of a high efficiency recording of everything we see and experience beginning the day of birth. The cornea and lens bend light todirect the imagewith the focal point being directly on the retina. 1 This allows the person to focus on the object of their choice and “blurs” out the surrounding images. However, imagine if the primary image was blurred, out of focus, or even unrecognizable while the surroundingswere clearly seen. This is the typeof image that plagues individ- uals who suffer fromage-relatedmacular degeneration (AMD).