Microphallus
An abnormally small penis. Also called micropenis.
In medical practice, the dimension of the penis that is measured is the length. The measurement is taken along the upper surface of the shaft of the penis to the tip, using a measuring tape or preferably a ruler. The ruler is pressed firmly into the soft tissue over the pubic bone (the symphysis pubis) since, in obese boys and men, a seemingly small penis may be partly engulfed by the fat pad at its base and actually be quite normal in length. Normal standards are available for penile length. True micropenis may reflect failure of normal hormonal stimulation or a failure of normal development during the formation of the embryo (a birth defect).
The prefix “micro-” is derived from the Greek “mikros” meaning small. It diminishes whatever it precedes.
Read Also:
- Microphthalmia
An abnormally small eye. Microphthalmia is a congenital malformation of the globe, a birth defect of the eye. A related term, anophthalmia, indicates that there is no eye at all. Also known as microphthalmos.
- Microphthalmia syndrome, Lenz
Lenz microphthalmia syndrome.
- Microscope
An optical instrument that augments the power of the eye to see small objects. The name microscope was coined by Johannes Faber (1574-1629) who in 1628 borrowed from the Greek to combined micro-, small with skopein, to view. Although the first microscopes were simple microscopes, most (if not all) optical microscopes today are compound microscopes.
- Microscope, compound
A microscope that consists of two microscopes in series, the first serving as the ocular lens (close to the eye), and the second serving as the objective lens (close to the object to be viewed).
- Microscope, electron
A microscope in which an electron beam replaces light to form the image. Electron microscopy (EM) has both pluses (greater magnification and resolution than optical microscopes) and minuses (the observer is not really ‘seeing’ objects, but rather their electron densities, so artifacts may be present).