Confocal Microscope

Vacker Africa is one of the leading groups in the region of Africa that have been supplying all kinds of microscopes  for the customers.  Whether you need a simple microscope or an advanced microscope we have it all. Our products and our services can be found in countries such as South Africa, Tanzania, Congo, Nigeria, Chad, Djibouti, Morocco, Egypt, Zimbabwe and many more.

History of Confocal Microscopy

Marvin Minsky is the person who is credited with the development of confocal microscope. He wanted to develop a microscope that could gain the imaging of biological events in a living body. He developed the equipment in the year of 1955 and patented in the year of 1957. Today all the modern confocal microscope is developed under the same patent developed by Marvin Minsky.

Advantages of Confocal Microscope

Confocal microscope is very different from the traditional optical microscope. Since it uses more advanced technology it has significant advantages over the traditional microscope. Some of the advantages of confocal microscope over conventional microscope are as follows:

  • The depth of field for the confocal microscope is shallower than the conventional microscope.
  • Out of focus glare in this type of microscope is eliminated.
  • Confocal microscopes have the ability to collect various layers of optical sections of thick specimen serially.

Application areas of Confocal Microscopy

Confocal Microscopy has changed the way we look at microscopes. Below listed are few applications of the same:

  • Confocal microscopes have a significant importance in the field of biomedical science. These confocal microscopes are generally used for the purpose of imaging living cells and tissues. It can also be used for the imaging of fixed cells. Use of traditional wide-field optical microscope for the imaging of fluorescent can be problematic. Use of traditional microscope for fluorescent microscope compromises the resolution of the image produced. This type of problem is quite common for the specimen having a thickness more than two micrometers. Confocal microscope eliminates such problem by eliminating the out of focus flare that is quite common in the thick fluorescent specimen. This ability of confocal microscope has helped in the surge of its popularity among the user.
  • With more advancement in the technology of confocal microscope they are getting easier to use and have been used in many facilities. With better resolution, it is being used in many multi-user facilities. Although these type of microscopes may not be as effective as transmission microscope it has helped to fill the gap between the conventional microscope and transmission microscope.
  • The imaging process in the conventional microscope and confocal microscope is quite contrasting. The specimen to be imaged is directly bathed in the light produced from a mercury source or xenon source in a conventional microscope. But in confocal microscope laser technology is used to scan the specimen with a more focussed beam of light on the specimen. This technology used in the confocal microscope is known as non-invasive method.
  • Confocal approach has changed the method we use in imaging of living specimen. It also has made us capable of collecting three dimensional data through automation. At present, the laser scanning confocal microscope is used widely all around the world. It has especially gained popularity in biomedical research.

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