Stereology is the method of choice for the quantitative assessment of biological objects in microscopy. It takes into account the fact that, in traditional microscopy such as conventional light and transmission electron microscopy, although one has to rely on measurements on nearly two-dimensional sections from fixed and embedded tissue samples, the quantitative data obtained by these measurements should characterize the real three-dimensional properties of the biological objects and not just their “flatland” appearance on the sections. Thus, three-dimensionality is a built-in property of stereological sampling and measurement tools. Stereology is, therefore, perfectly suited to be combined with 3D imaging techniques which cover a wide range of complementary sample sizes and resolutions, e.g. micro-computed tomography, confocal microscopy and volume electron microscopy. Here, we review those stereological principles that are of particular relevance for 3D imaging and provide an overview of applications of 3D imaging-based stereology to the lung in health and disease. The symbiosis of stereology and 3D imaging thus provides the unique opportunity for unbiased and comprehensive quantitative characterization of the three-dimensional architecture of the lung from macro to nano scale.

体视学是在显微镜下对生物对象进行定量评估的首选方法。它考虑到这样一个事实，即在传统显微镜（例如传统光学显微镜和透射电子显微镜）中，尽管必须依赖对固定和包埋组织样本的近二维切片的测量，但通过这些测量获得的定量数据应该表征生物对象的真实三维特性，而不仅仅是它们在切片上的“平坦”外观。因此，三维度是体视采样和测量工具的固有属性。因此，体视学非常适合与 3D 成像技术相结合，这些技术涵盖了广泛的互补样本大小和分辨率，例如微型计算机断层扫描、共聚焦显微镜和体积电子显微镜。在这里，我们回顾了那些与 3D 成像特别相关的体视学原理，并概述了基于 3D 成像的体视学在健康和疾病中的肺部应用。因此，体视学和 3D 成像的共生为从宏观到纳米尺度对肺的 3D 结构进行无偏见和全面的定量表征提供了独特的机会。