Technology Focus

Confocal microscopes use a pinhole to reject out of focus light resulting in optical sectioning and an improved signal to noise ratio when compared to widefield fluorescence imaging. (See figure below – only in-focus light can pass through the pinhole to reach the detector).

Confocal microscopes are ideal for imaging multi-labelled fluorescent samples up to around 100 microns in depth.  

Figure credit – https://www.edinst.com/

The White Light (WL) Laser ranges from 470nm to 670nm and 8 wavelengths can be simultaneously selected. This, together with the spectral detection, allows for easy optimization of multicolour imaging set-ups. The WL laser is pulsed giving the option of gating to remove reflections and other non fluorescent events from the images when used with the pulsed HyD detectors.