The quantitative evaluation of a confocal surgical microscope

The design and development of a confocal operating microscope has demonstrated a significant improvement in the optical sectioning ability of a surgical microscope. A Zeiss OPMIl operating microscope was modified to incorporate confocal scanning. Real-time, reflected-light images were produced from an electro-mechanical multiple slit scanner, and captured on video. The images were quantitatively analyzed for resolution, contrast, and depth of field behavior. The studies indicate that confocal scanning is capable of reducing the depth of field by 94%, and improving the resolution by 30%.