Editing Confocal microscopy (section)

{{Short description|Optical imaging technique}}
{{Infobox diagnostic |
  Name        = Confocal Microscopy |
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  ICD9        = |
  MeshID      = D018613 |
  OPS301      = {{OPS301|3-301}} |
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}}

[[File:Fluorescent and confocal microscopes.ogg|thumb|upright=1.5|Fluorescence and confocal microscopes operating principle]]

'''Confocal microscopy''', most frequently '''confocal laser scanning microscopy''' ('''CLSM''') or '''laser scanning confocal microscopy''' ('''LSCM'''), is an optical imaging technique for increasing [[optical resolution]] and [[contrast (vision)|contrast]] of a [[micrograph]] by means of using a [[Spatial filter|spatial pinhole]] to block out-of-focus light in image formation.<ref name="Pawley-2006">{{cite book |editor=Pawley JB  |title=Handbook of Biological Confocal Microscopy |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |year=2006 |edition = 3rd  |isbn=0-387-25921-X}}</ref> Capturing multiple two-dimensional images at different depths in a sample enables the reconstruction of three-dimensional structures (a process known as [[optical sectioning]]) within an object. This technique is used extensively in the scientific and industrial communities and typical applications are in [[life sciences]], [[semiconductor]] inspection and [[materials science]].

Light travels through the sample under a conventional microscope as far into the specimen as it can penetrate, while a confocal microscope only focuses a smaller beam of light at one narrow depth level at a time. The CLSM achieves a controlled and highly limited depth of field.