共焦点レーザー走査型顕微鏡きょうしょうてんれーざそうさがたけんびきょう

also: きょうしょうてんレーザーそうさがたけんびきょう

Meanings

confocal laser scanning microscope

Technical term for a type of optical microscope that uses a laser and a spatial pinhole to eliminate out-of-focus light, producing high-resolution images, especially in biology.

共きょう焦しょう点てんレーザー走そう査さ型がた顕けん微び鏡きょうを用もちいて、細さい胞ぼう内ないの蛍けい光こうタンパク質しつの分ぶん布ぷを観かん察さつした。
We observed the distribution of fluorescent proteins inside the cell using a confocal laser scanning microscope.

Kanji

共together, both, neither
焦char, hurry, impatient
点spot, point, mark
走run
査investigate
型mould, type, model
顕appear, existing
微delicate, minuteness, insignificance
鏡mirror, speculum, barrel-head

Related words

蛍けい光こう顕けん微び鏡きょう
A fluorescence microscope uses fluorescence to generate an image, but does not necessarily have the confocal pinhole that eliminates out-of-focus light. 共焦点レーザー走査型顕微鏡 is a specific type of fluorescence microscope with confocal optics.
電でん子し顕けん微び鏡きょう
An electron microscope uses a beam of electrons instead of light, achieving much higher resolution but requiring vacuum and special sample preparation. 共焦点レーザー走査型顕微鏡 works with living samples and visible light.

Written forms

共きょう焦しょう点てんレーザー走そう査さ型がた顕けん微び鏡きょう
Standard spelling with the long-vowel mark in レーザー, which is the more common representation in modern technical writing.
共きょう焦しょう点てんレーザ走そう査さ型がた顕けん微び鏡きょう
Variant without the long-vowel mark in レーザ; seen in some technical contexts but less common than レーザー.
きょうしょうてんレーザーそうさがたけんびきょう

Etymology

Compound of 共焦点 (confocal), レーザー (laser), 走査型 (scanning type), and 顕微鏡 (microscope). The term is a direct translation of the English 'confocal laser scanning microscope'.