Several advanced imaging systems are commonly used in histology:
1. Confocal Microscopy: This technique uses point illumination and a spatial pinhole to eliminate out-of-focus light, providing high-resolution and high-contrast images of thin, optical sections within a thick specimen.
2. Multiphoton Microscopy: Utilizing multiple photons to excite fluorophores, this method allows deeper tissue penetration with reduced phototoxicity, making it ideal for live tissue imaging.
3. Super-Resolution Microscopy: Techniques like STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion), PALM (Photoactivated Localization Microscopy), and STORM (Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy) surpass the diffraction limit of light, providing unprecedented details at the nanoscale.
4. Electron Microscopy: Both Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) offer extremely high resolution by using electron beams instead of light, revealing ultrastructural details at the subcellular level.
5. Fluorescence Microscopy: This involves the use of fluorescent dyes or proteins to label specific cellular components, enabling the visualization of dynamic processes in living cells.
6. Light Sheet Microscopy: Also known as Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM), this technique illuminates samples with a sheet of light, allowing rapid and high-resolution imaging of large biological specimens.
