Design of a real-time portable confocal scanning laser microscope

A portable video-rate confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) is implemented with polygon mirror and galvanometric mirror employed as the fast and slow axis scanner, respectively. The system can be applied for noninvasively imaging skin and other tissue. The dimension of this real-time CLSM is only 33×20×12cm 3 with weigh of 1.780 kg. Here we used a single Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) to generate the control and synchronization signals for real time confocal microscopy. Utilizing NI image acquisition card, the CLSM system can acquire and store the real-time images. So that high resolution confocal microscopy is achieved simultaneously.