Instrument: Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope

A laser scanning confocal microscope is a type of confocal microscope that obtains high-resolution optical images with depth selectivity, in which a laser beam passes through a light source aperture and then is focused by an objective lens into a small (ideally diffraction-limited) focal volume within or on the surface of a specimen.

The confocal microscope uses fluorescence optics. 'Confocal' means that the image is obtained from the focal plane only, any noise resulting from sample thickness being removed optically. 'Laser scanning' means the images are acquired point by point under localized laser excitation rather than full sample illumination, as in conventional widefield microscopy.