Confocal Microscope Essay

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Confocal Microscopy There are many types of microscopes available to scientist and researchers of all fields. Each microscope holds a purpose for a specific task or quality favored for each field of study over the rest. Confocal scanning optical microscopy is a new optical microscopic technique which offers significant advantages over conventional microscopy and light microscopes. Confocal microscopes are a very unique and break through type of microscope that is allowing scientist and researches in medical and biology fields to capture images never thought available before. The images that are captured are not just 2d but 3d layered images allowing a full understanding of structure of specimens looked at under the microscope. Not only that but these specimen can be living cells (vivo). Confocal scanning microscopy is well suited for the imaging and three-dimensional tomography of stained biological specimens. From just this information you can already tell the importance of where this technology will lead researchers in medical fields by 3d imaging structures of any cell in the human body without damaging or killing the sample for example even an intact insect embryo can be scanned without damaging the organism. Confocal scanning has been used on vivo living human cells to investigate correlations of morphologic changes for histological purposes, effect of wavelength on imaging and the role melanin as a contrast agent. Confocal histology correlates well with conventional histology. Confocal micro scoping potentially offers dermatologists a diagnostic tool that is instant and entirely noninvasive compared to conventional methods. In detail confocal microscope is a specialized type of fluorescence microscope that builds up an image with several layer images by scanning the specimen with a laser beam. The laser light reflects off a dichroic mirror. From there,

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