Confocal Microscopy

Laser-scanning confocal microscopy is a very popular technique that uses a combination of laser illumination and a "pinhole" mask to ensure that only fluorescence from the focal plane reaches the detector.  This avoids the characteristic blur typical of conventional fluorescence microscopy and allows images to captured as detailed optical slices and then used to build up rich 3D models.  Confocal microscopy is one of the most versatile techniques available in optical microscopy.  The Advanced Fluorescence Service offers two extremely well specified Leica SP5 confocal microscopes.  Their features include HyD hybrid detectors for the best possible sensitivity, as well as full environmental control for live cells and high-speed resonant scanning.

Equipment:

Leica SP5 HyD Confocal Microscope

• High-speed live cell imaging
• High quality imaging of fixed multi-color immunofluorescence preparations
• Small to medium scale screening applications
• Advanced fluorescence techniques: including FRAP for studying molecular - dynamics, photoactivation, and FRET for studying molecular interactions at sub –nanometric distances