<p>Instead of getting those crazy eye drops to dilate your eyes so the doctor can look at your retina, they just take a high-resolution digital picture.  Much faster and easier.  And they keep them on record so they can compare photos from year to year and better diagnose potential problems.
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The bright spot in the middle is the optic nerve (the blind spot); the darker spot next to the optic nerve is the macula, a small crater in the retina with a higher density of rods and cones, making it the best seeing portion of the eye.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/10775233@N00">Hey Paul</a>
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