Konfokalmikroskopia

Konfokalmikroskopia, also known as confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), is an optical imaging technique that uses point illumination and a spatial pinhole to reject out-of-focus light. This allows for the creation of sharp, high-contrast images of thick specimens at any depth. Instead of illuminating the entire specimen at once like a traditional microscope, a confocal microscope scans a focused laser beam across the sample point by point. The light emitted or reflected from each illuminated point passes through a pinhole aperture located in the image plane. Only light originating from the focal plane can pass through the pinhole and reach the detector, while light from above or below the focal plane is blocked. This process is repeated for many points, and the detected signals are assembled by a computer to reconstruct a digital image of a specific optical section. By acquiring a series of optical sections at different depths, a three-dimensional reconstruction of the specimen can be generated. This technique is widely used in biology, medicine, and materials science for visualizing fine cellular structures, studying dynamic processes in living cells, and analyzing the internal architecture of opaque samples. Its ability to provide optical sectioning without physical sectioning makes it invaluable for non-destructive imaging.