Three-dimensional point spread function model for line-scanning confocal microscope with high-aperture objective.

Point Spread Function (PSF) modelling is an important task in image formation analysis. In confocal microscopy, the exact PSF is rarely known, thus one has to rely on its approximation. An initial estimation is usually performed experimentally by measuring fluorescent beads or analytically by studying properties of the optical system. Yet, fluorescent line-scanning confocal microscopes are not widespread; therefore, very few adapted models are available in the literature. In this paper, we propose an analytical PSF model for line-scanning confocal microscopes. Validation is performed by measuring the error between our model and an experimental PSF measured with fluorescent beads, assumed to represent the real PSF. Comparison with existing models is also presented.