| Confocal Microscope |
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Information AboutConfocal Microscope |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY | |
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BASIC CONCEPT The principle of confocal imaging was patented by Marvin Minsky in 1957. In a conventional (i.e., wide-field) microscope, the entire Specimen is flooded in light from a light source. Due to the conservation of light Intensity Transportation , the part of specimen throughout the Optical Path will be detected by a Photodetector or a Camera . In contrast, a confocal microscope uses a pinhole to eliminate out-of-focus information. Only the light within the focal plane can be detected, so the image quality is much better than that of wide-field images. The thickness of the focal plane is defined mostly by the Objective Lens , and also by the optical properties of the specimen and the ambient conditions. CATEGORY Two types of confocal microscopes are commercially available: Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopes and Spinning-disk confocal microscopes. Generally speaking, confocal laser scanning microscopy yields better image quality but the imaging Frame Rate is very slow (less than 3 frames/second); Spinning-disk confocal microscopes can achieve Video Rate imaging---desired for dynamic observations. EXTERNAL LINKS
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