University of Glasgow · MVLS

MVLS Virtual Microscopy Catalogue

Search, review and prepare teaching slides from the virtual microscopy archive.

Organ & Tissue Census

How the active archive breaks down by organ and by tissue — useful for scoping a new teaching or research project against what the collection actually holds in depth. Companion to the Archive Reconciliation Summary, which covers collection-level totals and curation status instead. As of 14 August 2026.

Active slides
3,440
Organs identified
78
Slides with an organ
2,992
Tissue categories
15
Slides with a tissue tag
2,055

Leading organs

Skin
269
Kidney
198
Lung
168
Liver
142
Small Intestine
116
Adrenal
110
Spleen
108
Blood
103

Leading tissues

Epithelium
771
Glandular tissue
381
Nervous tissue
195
Lymphoid tissue
178
Blood
99
Skeletal muscle
74
Bone marrow
66
Cardiac muscle
64

Full breakdown

Every organ and tissue with at least one active slide, most represented first. Each list scrolls independently.

By organ (78)

OrganSlides
Skin269
Kidney198
Lung168
Liver142
Small Intestine116
Adrenal110
Spleen108
Blood103
Pancreas98
Brain96
Skeletal Muscle76
Bone Marrow66
Heart66
Ganglia65
Nerve Trunks63
Artery/Vein59
Mesentery58
Pituitary56
Testis56
Stomach54
Thyroid53
Tongue51
Eye50
Uterus50
Ovary50
Trachea49
Cartilage48
Oesophagus48
Bone48
Spinal Cord48
Large Intestine40
Tooth33
Salivary gland30
Lymph Node30
Bladder25
Thymus22
Parathyroid20
Fallopian Tube20
Prostate20
Ear19
Ligament/Tendon18
Gall Bladder18
Urethra13
Lip13
Appendix12
Placenta12
Tissues11
Breast and Mammary gland9
Tonsil9
Larynx8
Ureter8
Palate7
Nose6
Embryology6
Thyroid/Parathyroid6
Epiglottis6
Pineal6
Spermatic Cord5
Pharynx5
Onion4
Oral Biology4
Diaphragm3
Anus3
Choroid Plexus2
Abdomen2
Smooth muscle2
Seminal Vesicle2
Footpad1
Caecum1
teste1
Tail1
Epididymis1
Cortex1
Gill1
Carotid Body1
Neck1
Umbilical Cord1
thyroid and parathyroid gland1

By tissue (15)

TissueSlides
Epithelium771
Glandular tissue381
Nervous tissue195
Lymphoid tissue178
Blood99
Skeletal muscle74
Bone marrow66
Cardiac muscle64
Ganglion62
Vascular tissue59
Cartilage48
Bone42
Embryonic/developmental tissue13
Smooth muscle2
Adipose tissue1

Reading this data

Organ
Resolved through the organ dictionary — an exact name match first, a known synonym second, the raw catalogued label as a last resort. One slide, one organ.
Tissue
A many-to-many tag; unlike organ, a slide can carry more than one tissue. In this archive that overlap hasn't happened yet — the 15 counts above sum to exactly the 2,055 tissue-tagged slides.
Thyroid / Parathyroid / Thyroid-Parathyroid
Three distinct dictionary entries, not a counting error — some slides are labelled with the combined term specifically rather than one gland alone.
Tooth
Includes its synonym "Teeth" (30 + 3 = 33), resolved automatically by the dictionary.
teste
A single slide labelled with a typo/variant that the dictionary doesn't yet catch as a synonym of Testis (56). Worth a manual look before relying on the Testis count for project scoping.