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Anatomy of the orbit and the eye

Published on November 30, 2025   22 min

Other Talks in the Series: Introduction to Gross Anatomy for Medicine

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Hello. My name is Asha Venkatesh. I'm a senior lecturer in anatomy at the University of Aberdeen in the UK. Today, we are going to talk about the anatomy of the eye and the orbit.
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In this presentation, we will cover the boundaries of the bony orbit, the anatomy of the globe of the eye, the anatomy of the eyelid, conjunctiva, and lacrimal glands, and we will describe the location, actions, and nerve supply of the intrinsic and extrinsic ocular eye muscles.
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The bony orbit is shaped like a pyramid with a posterior apex, roof, floor, medial, and lateral walls. The frontal bone forms the roof and superior margin of the orbit. The zygomatic bone forms the lateral margin and wall. The maxilla forms much of the inferior and medial margins of the orbit, and also its floor. Posterior to the maxilla, the medial wall of the orbit is made up of two bones, the lacrimal bone and, posteriorly, the ethmoid bone. The lacrimal bone is the site of the lacrimal sac that collects tears. The part of the ethmoid bone that forms the medial wall of the orbit is paper-thin and is called the lamina papyracea. Most of the posterior part of the orbit, including its apex, is formed by the lesser and greater wings of the sphenoid bone. These two parts are separated by the superior orbital fissure. One further bone that makes up the small posterior part of the orbital floor is the palatine bone. The orbital rim is firm. You can confirm this by palpating your own orbital rims. But the medial wall and floor of the orbit are weak, the medial wall because of the thin ethmoid bone, and the floor because of the presence of the inferior orbital fissure and groove. These areas of weakness are clinically important. Blunt trauma, such as a blow to the orbit from a ball or a punch from a fist, frequently causes the medial wall or the floor of the orbit to fracture due to the pressure transmitted into the orbit called a blowout fracture.

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