Abstract
As noted in the Historical Perspectives section of Chap. 1, several types of confocal microscopes have been introduced over the years. These can be broken down into four basic categories: single-photon point-scanning confocal systems, multiphoton (nonlinear) point-scanning confocal systems, spinning disk confocal systems, and super-resolution systems. New developments are continually being added to the hardware and software of these microscopes to improve their performance, but the majority of confocal systems will fall into one of these groups.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Literature Cited
Abbe E (1884) Note on the proper definition of the amplifying power of a lens or lens system. J Roy Microsc Soc 4(2):348–351
Centonze V, White J (1998) Multiphoton excitation provides optical sections from deeper within scattering specimens than confocal imaging. Biophys J 75:2015–2024
Corle TR, Mallory CL, Wasserman TD (1991) Improved confocal scanning microscope. U.S. Patent 5,067,805, 26 Nov 1991
Denk W, Strickler J, Webb W (1990) Two-photon laser scanning fluorescence microscopy. Science 248:73–76
Denk W, Piston D, Webb W (1995) Two-photon molecular excitation in laser-scanning microscopy. In: Pawley J (ed) Hanbook of biological confocal microscopy, 2nd edn. Plenum, New York, pp 445–458
Gauderon R, Lukins P, Sheppard C (1999) Effect of a confocal pinhole in two-photon microscopy. Microsc Res Tech 47:210–215
Genka C, Ishida H, Ichimori K, Hirota K, Hirota Y, Tanaami T, Nakazawa H (1999) Visualization of biphasic Ca2 diffusion from cytosol to nucleus in contracting adult rat cardiac myocytes with an ultra-fast confocal imaging system. Cell Calcium 25:199–208
Gerritsen H, deGrauw C (1999) Imaging of optically thick specimens using two-photon excitation microscopy. Microsc Res Tech 47:206–209
Goodman JW (1968) Introduction to fourier optics. McGraw Hill, New York
Göppert-Mayer M (1931) Uber Elementarakte mit zei Quantenspruengen. Ann Physik (Berlin) 9:273–294
Ichihara A, Tanaami T, Isozaki K, Sugiyama Y, Kosugi K, Mikuriya K, Abe M, Umeda I (1996) High-speed confocal fluorescence microscopy using a Nipkow scanner with microlens for 3-d imaging of a single fluorescent molecule in real time. Bioimages 4:57–62
Kino GS (1995) Intermediate optics in Nipkow disk microscope. In: Pawley JB (ed) Handbook of biological confocal microscopy. Plenum Press, New York, pp 155–165
Kino GS, Xiao GQ (1990) Rea-time scanning optical microscopes. In: Wilson T (ed) Scanning optical microscopes. Pergamon Press, London, pp 361–387
Laine RF, Kaminski Schierle GS, van del Linde S, Kaminski CF (2016) From single-molecule spectroscopy to super-resolution imaging of the neuron: a review. Methods Appl Fluoresc 4:02204
Leung BO, Chou KC (2011) Review of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy for biology. Appl Spectrosc 65(9):967–980
Nakano A (2002) Spinning-disk confocal microscopy—a cutting edge tool for imaging of membrane traffic. Cell Struct Funct 27:349–355
Nipkow P (1884) German Patent no. 30,105. Germany
Petran M, Hadravsky M, Egger MD, Galambos R (1968) Tandem scanning reflected light microscope. J Opt Soc Am 58:661–664
Petran M, Hadravsky M, Boyde A (1985) The tandem scanning reflected light microscope. Scanning 7:97–108
Piston D (1999) Imaging living cells and tissues by two-photon excitation microscopy. Trends Cell Biol 9:66–69
Sydor AM, Czymmek KJ, Puchner EM, Mennella V (2015) Super-resolution microscopy: from single molecules to supramolecular assemblies. Trends Cell Biol 25(12):730–748
Tanaami T, Otsuki S, Tomosada N, Kosugi Y, Shimizu M, Ishida H (2002) High-speed 1 frame/ms scanning confocal microscope with a microlens and Nipkow disk. Appl Opt 41:4704–4708
Xiao and Kino (1987) A real-time confocal scanning optical microscope. In: Wison T, Balk L (eds) Proceedings SPIE, vol. 809, Scanning Imaging Technology, pp 107–113
Xiao GQ, Corle TR, Kino GS (1988) Real time confocal scanning microscope. Appl Phys Lett 53:716–718
Xiao GQ, Kino GS, Masters BR (1990) Observation of the rabbit cornea and lens with a new real time confocal scanning optical microscope. Scanning 12:161–166
Yamanaka M, Smith NI, Fujita K (2014) Introduction to super-resolution microscopy. Microscopy 2014:177–192
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fuseler, J., Jerome, W.G., Price, R.L. (2018). Types of Confocal Instruments: Basic Principles and Advantages and Disadvantages. In: Jerome, W., Price, R. (eds) Basic Confocal Microscopy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97454-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97454-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97453-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97454-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)