The Swept Field Confocal Microscope

描述（由申请人提供）：美国和全世界有数百万人受到神经系统疾病的影响，如癫痫、帕金森病和脑肿瘤。共聚焦显微镜大大增强了基础神经科学中假设的检验，为此类神经系统疾病的原因提供了重要的见解。然而，这些系统目前非常昂贵，使他们超出了大多数科学家的能力范围;大多数共焦显微镜目前只能在核心设施中找到。还需要增加的光学分辨率和使用共聚焦显微镜进行样品的三维重建的能力。如果一个系统能够以低于50，000美元的成本推向市场，那么使用荧光显微镜的每个科学家都可以使用共聚焦显微镜，从而提高研究能力，并可能减轻神经系统疾病造成的经济和医疗负担。 本项目的总体目标是开发一种基于创新概念的新型共焦显微镜-扫场共焦设计（SFC）。SFC是一个革命性的共焦概念。该混合仪器使用固定针孔阵列沿沿着一个轴进行照明和检测，同时使用单个检流计沿沿着另一个轴扫描照明（专利申请中）。在这个项目的第一阶段，我们设计，建立原型，并评估了SFC的两个变化的性能。在这个项目的第二阶段，我们将从绘图板进入实验室;我们将开发，测试和完善一个高性能，易于使用的扫频场共聚焦显微镜，售价低于50，000美元。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Millions of people in the USA and throughout the world are affected by neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and brain tumors. Confocal microscopy has considerably enhanced the testing of hypotheses in the basic neurosciences, providing significant insights into the causes of such neurological disorders. However, these systems are currently extremely expensive, putting them out of the reach of most individual scientists; the majority of confocal microscopes are currently to be found only in core facilities. There is also a need for increased optical resolution and the ability to perform 3-dimensional reconstructions of samples using a confocal microscope. If a system could be brought to market at a cost of less than $50,000, confocal microscopy would become available to every individual scientist using fluorescence microscopy, thus improving research abilities and potentially alleviating the financial and medical burdens caused by neurological disorders. The overall goal of this project is to develop a new type of confocal microscope based on an innovative concept - the swept-field confocal design (SFC). The SFC is a revolutionary confocal concept. This hybrid-instrument uses an array of stationary pinholes for illumination and detection along one axis while using a single galvanometer to sweep the illumination along the other axis (Patent Pending). In Phase I of this project we designed, built prototypes of and evaluated the performance of two variations of the SFC. In Phase II of this project we will move from the drawing board to the laboratory; we will develop, test and refine a high-performance, easy-to-use swept-field confocal microscope at a selling price of under $50,000.