Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LSCM)
A laser scanning confocal microscope is similar to the light microscopes that frequent most research labs, but utilizes laser light of differing wavelengths for enhanced imaging capabilities. The main advantage to this scope is the ability to remove all out-of-focus light, which aids in the creation of 3-D sample reconstructions. This allows researchers to accurately determine structure depth and placement.
LSCM Equipment
The lab has an Olympus Fluoview. The scan head can be mounted on a fully automated Olympus IX83 inverted light microscope with PRIOR automated stage. The microscope is equipped with an LED lamp and full DIC optics. Objectives are available ranging from 10X through 100X.
Excitation wave lengths
458nm, 476nm, 488nm, 514nm, 561nm, and 633nm.
- FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization)
- Co-localization
- Epitope Tagging (typically using antibodies)
- Auto-fluorescence for high resolution plant tissue reconstruction
- Fluorescent Proteins such as GFP