Re-scan confocal microscopy: scanning twice for better resolution

Giulia M R De Luca; Ronald M P Breedijk; Rick A J Brandt; Christiaan H C Zeelenberg; Babette E de Jong; Wendy Timmermans; Leila Nahidi Azar; Ron A Hoebe; Sjoerd Stallinga; Erik M M Manders

doi:10.1364/BOE.4.002644

Re-scan confocal microscopy: scanning twice for better resolution

Biomed Opt Express. 2013 Oct 25;4(11):2644-56. doi: 10.1364/BOE.4.002644. eCollection 2013.

Authors

Giulia M R De Luca¹, Ronald M P Breedijk, Rick A J Brandt, Christiaan H C Zeelenberg, Babette E de Jong, Wendy Timmermans, Leila Nahidi Azar, Ron A Hoebe, Sjoerd Stallinga, Erik M M Manders

Affiliation

¹ Van Leeuwenhoek Centre for Advanced Microscopy, Molecular Cytology, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

We present a new super-resolution technique, Re-scan Confocal Microscopy (RCM), based on standard confocal microscopy extended with an optical (re-scanning) unit that projects the image directly on a CCD-camera. This new microscope has improved lateral resolution and strongly improved sensitivity while maintaining the sectioning capability of a standard confocal microscope. This simple technology is typically useful for biological applications where the combination high-resolution and high-sensitivity is required.

Keywords: (110.2990) Image formation theory; (170.5810) Scanning microscopy; (170.6900) Three-dimensional microscopy; (180.1790) Confocal microscopy; (350.5730) Resolution.