Comparison of line-scanned and point-scanned dual-axis confocal microscope performance

The point-scanned dual-axis confocal (PS-DAC) microscope has been shown to exhibit superior capability to reject out-of-focus and multiply scattered light in comparison to its conventional single-axis counterpart. However, the slow frame rate (typically <5 Hz) resulting from point-by-point data collection makes these systems vulnerable to motion artifacts. While video-rate point-scanned confocal microscopy is possible, a line-scanned dual-axis confocal (LS-DAC) microscope provides a simpler means of achieving high-speed imaging through line-by-line data collection, but sacrifices contrast due to loss of confocality along one dimension. Here we evaluate the performance trade-offs between an LS-DAC and PS-DAC microscope with identical spatial resolutions. Characterization experiments of the LS-DAC and PS-DAC microscopes with tissue phantoms, in reflectance mode, are shown to match results from Monte Carlo scattering simulations of the systems. Fluorescence images of mouse brain vasculature, obtained using resolution-matched LS-DAC and PS-DAC microscopes, demonstrate the comparable performance of LS-DAC and PS-DAC microscopy at shallow depths. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America