Confocal reflectance microscopy and confocal Raman spectroscopy have shown potential for non-destructive analysis of samples at micron-scale resolutions. Current studies utilizing these techniques often employ large bench-top microscopes, and are not suited for use outside of laboratory settings. We have developed a microscope which combines laser scanning confocal reflectance imaging and confo...

We describe the theory and implementation of a frequency-domain fluorescence lifetime confocal microscope using switched diode laser illumination. Standard, communications-type, radio-frequency electronics are used to provide inexpensive modulation references and to perform phase-sensitive detection. This allows the rapid acquisition of fluorescence intensity and lifetime images and their displ...

We present a novel fiber-optic confocal microscope in which the scanning operation is achieved by use of a spatial light modulator (SLM) to sequentially illuminate individual fibers or patterns of multiple fibers. Experimental images are presented, and the optical-sectioning capability of the device is demonstrated. The novel SLM-based system is more optically efficient, achieves higher contras...

We compare the axial sectioning capability of multifocal confocal and multifocal multiphoton microscopy in theory and in experiment, with particular emphasis on the background arising from the cross-talk between adjacent imaging channels. We demonstrate that a time-multiplexed non-linear excitation microscope exhibits significantly less background and therefore a superior axial resolution as co...

We describe a generalized confocal optical microscope which measures both phase and amplitude, separately and simultaneously. The system is based on heterodyne interferometry, and is extremely fast and accurate. Together with the associated signal processing and data acquisition system, it can take data at the rate of 50,000 points per second, to an accuracy of 12 bits in amplitude and about th...

In this paper, we present an algorithm to create 3D segmentations of neuronal cells from stacks of previously segmented 2D images. The idea behind this proposal is to provide a general method to reconstruct 3D structures from 2D stacks, regardless of how these 2D stacks have been obtained. The algorithm not only reuses the information obtained in the 2D segmentation, but also attempts to correc...

A non-axial-scanning confocal microscope employing a monochromatic light source has been developed. The system controls the defocus of an objective into three to .ve optimized states by using a membrane-adaptive mirror, and determines the axial height of an object according to the confocal output value with each defocus. A genetic algorithm is employed to optimize the adaptive mirror shape, wit...