A new miniaturized confocal microscope allows immediate in vivo histology of different organs

Introduction: In vivo microscopy with immediate histology has always been the goal of surgeons and endoscopists. For this purpose, a miniaturized confocal laser microscopy probe has recently been developed. We evaluated the in vivo imaging potential of the confocal probe with different contrast dyes in mice. Methods: In the rigid laparoscopy probe (diameter 7mm, Optiscan, Australia), a single line laser delivers an excitation wavelength of 488nm. Optical slice thickness is 7µm with a lateral resolution of 0.7µm. The range of the z-axis is 0–200µm below the surface. Organ systems of 62 laparotomised and thoracoto…