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Layers of the retina

The retina, or the most internal tissue, is a transparent structure consisting of 10 anatomically and physiologically distinct layers. The outer layers in the retina derive their oxygen by diffusion from the vascular choroid, and the inner layers are nourished by capillaries derived from the branches of the central retinal artery. The retinal pigment epithelium is a layer of cuboidal melanin-containing cells that perform important metabolic functions for the retinal photoreceptors, which are the light-capturing cells that make up the outermost layer of the retina. (Contributed by Dr. James Walters.)

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