Confocal laser-scanning microscope offers high sensitivity, enhanced resolution in x, y and z, and high image-acquisition speed in one system. The LSM 880 microscope extends parameters including sensitivity, resolution, and speed. Users achieve a 1.7× higher resolution in all spatial dimensions, 140 nm laterally and 400 nm axially. The manufacturer says the improved sensitivity in turn leads to better image quality and increased speed. In addition, the whole imaging process is possible with standard sample preparation and labeling protocols.
A classic confocal microscope illuminates one spot on the sample to detect the emitted fluorescence signal. Out-of-focus emission light is rejected at a pinhole, the size of which determines how much of the Airy disk reaches the detector. Users can increase the resolution by making the pinhole smaller, but the signal-to-noise ratio drops significantly, since less valuable emission light is passing through.
With the LSM 880 system’s technology, a multichannel area detector with 32 elements collects all the light from an Airy disk simultaneously instead of detecting signals with a single point detector. In that way, each detector element functions as a single, very small pinhole. Knowing the beam path and the spatial distribution of each Airy disk enables light-efficient imaging, and researchers can use all of the photons that the objective collected. Carl Zeiss
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