Physicists and ophthalmologists, since time immemorial have aggressively tried to break new ground in trying to get a good look at the retina and its myriad pathologies. Although fundus photography, optical coherence tomography and fundus fluorescein angiography have largely been very successful in imaging the retina and give a clear understanding of pathology affecting it, researchers are continuously looking for newer tools to assess the retinal structure at a cellular level. Adaptive optics with its ability to overcome optical aberrations has been able to achieve this non-invasively. Its advantages, clinical applications and shortcomings are under scrutiny and only time will reveal its utility in a clinical setting.