Bessel-beam illumination in dual-axis confocal microscopy mitigates resolution degradation caused by refractive heterogeneities.

ABSTRACT: One of the main challenges for laser-scanning microscopy of biological tissues with refractive heterogeneities is the degradation in spatial resolution that occurs as a result of beam steering and distortion. This challenge is particularly significant for dual-axis confocal (DAC) microscopy, which achieves improved spatial-filtering and optical-sectioning performance over traditional confocal microscopy through off-axis illumination and collection of light with low-numerical aperture (NA) beams that must intersect precisely at their foci within tissues. DAC microscope image quality is sensitive to positional changes and distortions of these illumination- and collection-beam foci. Previous studies have shown that Bessel beams display improved positional stability and beam quality than Gauss

SUBMITTER: Chen Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5243863 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature