Rapid super-resolution confocal microscopy through virtual structured detection based on serial scanning in array

Abstract

To improve the imaging speed of a confocal microscope with virtual structured detection, we have designed an optical system with rigid coordination control of the CCD, galvanometer scanner, and laser diode. In this system, the width of the coherent transfer function expands, which enhances the lateral resolution by a factor of 1.4. Also, the temporal image sequence is transformed to a spatial one so that multiple images can be acquired during a single exposure period of the CCD. This method increases the system imaging speed 25-fold at least, and an even higher speed can be achieved by further increasing the number of spots recorded during a single exposure period.