CONFOCAL LASER-SCANNING MICROSCOPY - A NEW OPTICAL MICROSCOPIC TECHNIQUE FOR APPLICATIONS IN PATHOLOGY AND DERMATOLOGY

Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) is a new optical microscopic technique, which offers significant advantages over conventional micr oscopy. CLSM is microscopy of optical sections. Light, which is emitte d from regions other than the focal plane, is cut off by introducing a diaphragm in the beam path. The result is an optical ''slice'', which shows more details because the blurring from out of focus haze disapp ears. It has been repeatedly used in experimental, but also in diagnos tic dermatopathology. The ''in vivo'' confocal microscopy, applied dir ectly to the intact skin provides details of living cells in the super ficial layers comparable to that of fixed and stained tissue. While th e extent of its future applications is hard to predict, its potential for applications in dermatology appears enormous, particularly for stu dies of fixed or living tissues, where it is desirable to obtain clear images many micrometers below the surface of the tissue under examina tion.