The cornea is the outermost part of your eye and extremely important for clear vision and overall eye health. Your cornea is a transparent covering over the front part of the eye, much like the watch crystal on your watch. It covers your iris, pupil and anterior chamber. The cornea’s job is complex; it protects your eye from foreign bodies like germs and dirt, it also helps to refract light which protects the eye from harmful amounts of ultraviolet rays. That is why a healthy cornea is vital to your vision.
There are three main components of the cornea: the endothelium, the stroma and the epithelium. The epithelium provides an important protective barrier to infection. Anything that compromises the epithelium can increase the risk of corneal ulceration, such as an abrasion of the cornea, or hypoxia resulting from over-wear or sleeping in contact lenses. The endothelium is the innermost layer of the cornea and consists of a single layer of cells between your stroma and a clear fluid located in the front and rear chambers of your eye called the aqueous humor. Your endothelium acts as a pump, helping to remove water that is absorbed into your stroma. If the endothelium doesn’t work properly, your stroma can become hazy, causing your vision to become fuzzy.
There are a number of things that can go wrong with your cornea and we have listed to the left some of the work that we do related to corneal diseases and corneal surgery.
