Confocal laser scanning microscopy-a powerful tool in bone research.

The confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) enables the collection of images picturing selected planes in depth of thick samples, thus giving 3D information while keeping the sample intact. In this article we give an overview of our CLSM applications in bone research: (i) the characterization of osteoblasts and osteoclasts properties in cell biology, (ii) the visualization of the three dimensional (3D) osteocyte lacunar canalicular network in undemineralized plastic-embedded bone samples, (iii) the observation of tetracycline labels in bone biopsy samples from patients in combination with information on the mineralization density from quantitative backscatter electron imaging, which enables the time course of mineral accumulation in newly formed bone to be followed, (iv) the precise measurement of the thickness of thin ground bone sections, a prerequisite for the mapping of local mechanical properties by scanning acoustic microscopy.