Laser scanning confocal microscopy: history, applications, and related optical sectioning techniques.

Confocal microscopy is an established light microscopical technique for imaging fluorescently labeled specimens with significant three-dimensional structure. Applications of confocal microscopy in the biomedical sciences include the imaging of the spatial distribution of macromolecules in either fixed or living cells, the automated collection of 3D data, the imaging of multiple labeled specimens and the measurement of physiological events in living cells. The laser scanning confocal microscope continues to be chosen for most routine work although a number of instruments have been developed for more specific applications. Significant improvements have been made to all areas of the confocal approach, not only to the instruments themselves, but also to the protocols of specimen preparation, to the analysis, the display, the reproduction, sharing and management of confocal images using bioinformatics techniques.