What is Myopia?
The eye is build like a small camera that projects the image of the environment on its inner wall. Instead of an electronic chip that captures the image, a light sensitive tissue layer covers the eye inside like a wall paper. It contains a dense array of photoreceptor cells which respond to light with an electrical signal.
To see sharply, the projected image must be in good focus. This condition is achieved by matching eye length and the focal length of the optics with an impressive precision of around 0.1 mm. In myopia, the eye grows too long so that the focused image is slightly in front of the retina. One can no longer see sharply at a distance. An elongation of the eye by only one millimeter, from 24 to 25 mm, causes about 2.7 diopters.
For more information on the subject, please download the PDF document "Patient information - myopia (near-sightedness)" [PDF / 0.8 MByte]
Centre for Ophthalmology Tuebingen
The Centre for Ophthalmology of the University Hospital Tübingen is the largest and one of the most important centres for ophthalmology in Germany and pioneers in research and clinical work. It is heavily involved in many current developments in the field of ophthalmology. The Centre for Ophthalmology consists of the University Eye Hospital and the Institute for Ophthalmic Research.