Instead of using an incoherent tungsten or mercury lamp source like conventional microscopes, confocal microscopes use a laser to illuminate the sample.1 The system then collects images at planes at various depths in the sample, known as optical sections, by scanning the laser through different focus positions.1 Optical sections enable live specimens to be imaged because the sample doesn’t need to be physically sectioned off. The illumination of smaller sections also helps specimens to remain viable longer by significantly reducing the effects of phototoxicity. The amount of light that conventional techniques use for illumination makes it difficult to ensure the vitality of the specimen imaged, which is crucial when capturing biological events.1

Breadboard near me

Edmund Optics® supplies a wide range of optics for confocal fluorescence microscopy applications including filters, objectives, laser systems, and pinholes.

BreadboardsAmazon

Confocal microscopy is a type of fluorescence microscopy which uses a laser to excite fluorescence from fluorophores used to label different subsets of a specimen. Fluorescence microscopes are used for imaging cells and tissues that have been fluorescently tagged.1 What separates confocal microscopy from conventional epi-fluorescence microscopy is its increased resolution when imaging thick specimens, elimination of out-of-focus glare due to spatial filtering, and reduction of light-induced damage to the sample, known as phototoxicity.

breadboard中文

Please select your shipping country to view the most accurate inventory information, and to determine the correct Edmund Optics sales office for your order.

When compared to images captured by a conventional fluorescence microscope, images from a confocal microscope system exhibit a marginal increase in axial and lateral resolution, but spatial filtering from the system’s pinhole assembly blocks out-of-focus fluorescence for a much more detailed image (Figure 1).2 Contrast of the image is improved over traditional methods due to a reduction in background noise and improved signal-to-noise ratio. When using conventional techniques, the fluorescence emitted from adjacent parts of the sample interferes with the image plane and obscures the focus.1 This is problematic because there is no way of differentiating the fluorescence that does not contribute to the focal plane being imaged, which is especially apparent in specimens that are thicker than two micrometers.1 By utilizing spatial filtering techniques, confocal microscopes are able to eliminate this problem by blocking any out-of-focus light that would otherwise obscure the image.2 Confocal and multiphoton microscopy have similar resolution in the x- and y-axes, but multiphoton microscopy has superior resolution in the z-axis, or depth. Compared to multiphoton microscopy, confocal microscopy only uses a single photon to excite fluorescent dyes, which can result in more light scatter in the image and the inability to image as deep into a sample. Confocal techniques commonly use light from the visible spectrum, which also tends to scatter and absorb more in biological tissue than longer wavelengths, which in turn can limit the possible penetration depth into a sample. However, the confocal technique still has proven to have enhanced resolution over traditional widefield techniques, allowing it to be considered a bridge between classic widefield methods and more advanced super-resolution techniques. Confocal microscopy is very well-suited for imaging of 2D cell cultures while multiphoton and light sheet microscopy provide advantages for imaging 3D samples.