MedFriendly®
Histology
Histology is the science concerned with the
identification of the structure of cells, tissues, and
organs in relation to their function. A microscope is
used to make the identification of the structure of cells,
tissues, and organs. The main use of histology in
medicine is to identify the type of disease present in
patients. This often involves a biopsy, in which the cells
are analyzed for abnormalities. A biopsy is the process
of removing living tissue or cells from organs or other
body parts of patients for examination under a
microscope or in a culture to help make a diagnosis,
follow the course of a disease, or estimate a prognosis.
Microscopic tissue analysis.
FEATURED BOOK: Histology: A Text and Atlas
Histology can also refer to the structure of organ tissues, including the structure of cells
and how they are organized into different types of tissues.
A medical scientist that specializes in histology is known as a histologist. A histologist is
able to identify abnormal cells that represent disease because he/she is familiar with how
normal and abnormal cells should appear under a microscope. Histology is also known as
microanatomy. Histologic and histological mean pertaining to histology.
Histology comes from the Greek word "histos" meaning "tissue," and the Greek word
"logos" meaning "study." Put the words together and you get "study (of) tissue."
"Where Medical Information is Easy to Understand"™
