flourescent vs confocal microscope?

[investing101]

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Can anyone tell me the difference between these? I have a high interest in flourescent microscopy "gfp" so I am just wondering if both of these have the same purpose with only minor differences in visual quality.

Thanks

 

[notbobtrustme]

Confocal lets you take small slices of your specimen without the need for prep and often comes with the filters for fluorescent microscopy.

In 99% of cases, confocal will do it as good or better than a fluorescent/light microscope.

 

[investing101]

I assume that the confocal is the most expensive

 

[notbobtrustme]

I assume that the confocal is the most expensive

big time

 

[EBTrailRunner]

In fluorescence microscopy, the sample is completely bathed in light, whereas in confocal microscopy, emitted light is focused on a pinhole, eliminating out of focus fluorescent light/reducing glare. A computer constructs the image pixel by pixel. What's cool about confocal microscopy is that you can focus on a single point and have the sample sliced at evenly spaced intervals from top to bottom to create a 3D image. Of course, all this comes with a hefty price tag, about $250K, which is why many ordinary labs will chip in and share one instrument.

 

[investing101]

Anyone have experience with Amscope microscopes? I'm interested in their Flourescent microscope but have never heard of them or their quality.

 

[SpecterGT260]

In fluorescence microscopy, the sample is completely bathed in light, whereas in confocal microscopy, emitted light is focused on a pinhole, eliminating out of focus fluorescent light/reducing glare. A computer constructs the image pixel by pixel. What's cool about confocal microscopy is that you can focus on a single point and have the sample sliced at evenly spaced intervals from top to bottom to create a 3D image. Of course, all this comes with a hefty price tag, about $250K, which is why many ordinary labs will chip in and share one instrument.

Basically this except that first part. The sample still gets all the light a fluorescent sample will. The light isn't focused on the pin hole, rarher the pin hole only allows light from a specific focal plane to hit the detector so the end result is an image of a slice rather than an image of the whole thickness of the prep. In effect the pin hole restricts the signal that gets through.

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