Application of a new morphometry system based on SEM stereo-pairs to the study of intestinal mucosa of rodents.

A new morphometry system for submicroscopic three-dimensional structures was developed on the same principles as for the aerial survey using SEM stereo-pairs. This computer graphic system was applied to the analysis of the surface features of the intestinal mucosa. After removing the epithelial layer by prolonged osmication, core structures of the intestinal villi were exposed and 100 villi each from rat and mouse were measured. Average height, basal area and surface area of a single core of the rat were 188 microns, 20,200 microns2 and 93,500 microns2, respectively. Those of the mouse were 148 microns, 7,530 microns2 and 37,100 microns2, respectively. Surface amplifications by the rat and the mouse villi, after compensating for epithelial thickness, were calculated as 3.5 and 4.3, respectively; though amplifications based on the villous core were 4.6 and 4.9, respectively. These three-dimensional features of the intestinal mucosa were illustrated as submicroscopic maps by drawing their contour lines. It was demonstrated that the present morphometry system makes it possible to know not only the average features of a large sample, but also a variety of features of individual structures which were directly observed under SEM.