Objective

To develop and evaluate a standardised method for unbiased measurements of epithelial thickness taking the variability of the dermal papillae in consideration.

Methods

A computer-assisted measurement program suitable for haematoxylin and eosin routine stained specimens has been developed.

Results

The developed program was designed to measure four different distance parameters, taking the number, height and width of dermal papillae into account. The measurement program gave very accurate results compared with manual measurements. The measurement results can be presented as tables or star graphs, and the results can be further processed by multivariate analysis.

Conclusion

The computer-assisted measurement program is considered to be a valuable and reliable tool for measurements of epithelial thickness, irrespectively of the variability of the epithelial morphology. Since length, size and number of the papillae may change with certain pathological conditions, age and also under hormonal influence, this method can be a helpful diagnostic tool.