title: Three-dimensional resolution and contrast-enhanced confocal microscopy with array detection.
abstract: What we believe is a novel method for improving confocal microscopy's resolution and contrast in 3D space is proposed. Based on a conventional confocal microscopy setup, we use an array detector composed of 32 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) to replace one point-detector, where the location offset of each PMT caused a different effective point spread function (PSF). By applying array detection and the fluorescence emission difference method of an image with a solid PSF and another with a donut-shaped PSF, we can enhance lateral resolution about 27% in real time with only one scan, and improve the axial resolving ability by about 22% simultaneously. Experimental results of both fluorescent beads and living cells are presented to verify the applicability and effectiveness of our method.
authors.forename: Baoliang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Yifan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yujia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Cuifang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuang
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xiu
authors.forename: Zihao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu