Vitreous body

The vitreous body is a transparent gel filling the space between the eye’s lens and retina. It helps maintain the eye’s shape and allows light to pass toward the retina.

Vitreous humor: The water-rich extracellular substance that fills the space between the eye’s lens and retina. This name is often used for the vitreous body, though it can emphasize its fluid composition.
Posterior vitreous detachment: Separation of the posterior vitreous cortex from the retinal surface, commonly associated with aging. It occurs as the gel liquefies and its attachment to the retina weakens.
Vitreous hemorrhage: Bleeding into the vitreous cavity that can obscure vision and the view of the retina. Blood within the normally transparent gel can sharply reduce visual clarity.
Aqueous humor: The clear fluid in the anterior and posterior chambers between the cornea and lens. It is a circulating fluid in front of the lens, unlike the gel behind it.
Collagen: A family of structural proteins that form fibers in connective tissues. Fine collagen fibrils form the vitreous gel’s supporting scaffold.
Synchysis scintillans: A rare condition in which cholesterol crystals accumulate in a liquefied vitreous body. It illustrates how altered vitreous composition can produce visible particles within the gel.
Floaters: Shadows perceived in vision from opacities within the vitreous or, less often, other ocular structures. Vitreous condensations cast moving shadows across the retina.
Crystalline lens: The transparent, flexible structure behind the iris that focuses light onto the retina. The lens refracts light and changes focus; the vitreous mainly transmits light and supports the posterior eye.
Hyaluronan: A long-chain carbohydrate found in extracellular tissues that binds water and contributes to their viscoelastic properties. Its water-binding molecules help keep the vitreous gel hydrated and spread its collagen fibrils apart.
Vitreomacular traction: Persistent vitreous attachment to the macula that distorts the retinal surface. Incomplete separation can pull on the central retina instead of releasing it cleanly.

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EyeBroader topic: It transmits light while helping the eye retain its shape.