Normal cross-sectional anatomy of skin as measured by high-resolution magnetic resonance tomography

Purpose: To characterize human skin qualitatively and quantitatively using high-resolution magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) and to compare skin thickness measurements from MRT and histological specimens. Material and Methods: The skin of 84 persons was examined by use of a 2.5 cm coil in a whole-body tomography (gradient field strength 1.5 T) at a linear resolution of 100 mu m. To evaluate the ability to identify various skin structures, following an initial visual description,the signal-noise and contrast-noise ratios were analyzed and the MRT-image compared to the corresponding histological specimen. Results: Using the high-resolution coil, epidermis, dermis and subcutis were discernible. Problem areas included the cheek, distal leg and foot. Reproducible measuring of skin thickness with MRT is possible, but it does not correlate well with conventional histologic measurements.