ABSTRACT
The roots of the field of microcirculation can be traced back several hundred years to the observations of M. Malpighi and A. von Leuwenhoek who were able with the aid of crude microscopes to describe for the first time the unceasing flow of blood through the tiny tubes that were referred to as capillaries. The usage of the term “microcirculation” in an organic context is of comparatively recent vintage, first appearing consistently in the literature during the 1950s. Despite its shortcomings, intravital microscopy has served as a practical approach for the study of the components of human microcirculation in a clinical setting for well over 75 years. The information is in many ways self-limiting since it is confined to more accessible tissues, such as the skin or the eye. Early concepts of the organization of the microcirculation depicted the network as the end result of a repeated dichotomous subdivision of the feed arteries within the tissue.
