What types of microscopes does the NIAMS Light Imaging Section have?
A. LIS has two main types of microscopes: widefield conventional and confocal. The capabilities of the microscopes are complementary to each other. They differ particularly in their sources of light: the conventional microscope uses white light and the confocal uses laser light. For the confocal microscope, a computer is needed to create what the user sees, since the laser scans the specimen, then constructs the image and then displays it on the computer screen. A conventional microscope lets the user view a specimen through eyepieces. Confocal microscopes have a number of lasers. One way this is challenging to a new user is in getting to know the microscope and its particular laser setup. This is important when staining or dyeing a specimen, because the dye can be optimized relative to the exact laser setup of the particular confocal microscope. A confocal microscope is often used for a thicker specimen. It is possible to even look at a small live animal (anesthetized) using a confoca
