The Organization of the Retina and Visual System
Question: How small can the blood vessels in our retinas get?
Answer: Smaller than the diameter of a red blood cell (~6-8µm wide).
The red blood cells have to fold themselves to get through the tightest of spaces and line up, single file to get through the smallest retinal capillaries.
Image originally posted here.
Bruch’s membrane is a highly specialized and multi-laminar structure in our retinas that forms the basis for mediating interactions between the retinal pigment epithelium and blood flow from the choroid. I’ve not seen many good images online, so figured this image from mouse would be a good addition showing the relationship of the basal surface of the RPE with Bruch’s membrane.
