Each image is comprised of up to 30 optical sections, each 2 m thick. The nerves are traced in three dimensions from the point where they cross the dermal-epidermal basement membrane to their endings in the superficial layers of the epidermis. Data is acquired for the number of nerve fibers and the length and number of branch points for each nerve fiber. Figure 5 Comparison of clinical neurological evaluation scores with epidermal nerve fiber length per volume of epidermis and sweat gland nerve volume in type I diabetic subjects. The amount of nerve present in calf-epidermis correlates well with the clinical evaluation of diabetic subjects when score values are less than 30.
Rectangles indicate the size and ideal locations of areas to be used for nerve counts.