Immunofluorescence microscopy utilizes antibodies that are labeled with fluorescent dye. Although the visual image of a microarray panel is alluring, its information content, per se, is minimal without significant image processing. The most common current application of image cytometry is for DNA analysis, followed by quantitation of immunohistochemical staining. The use of a photosensitive system for the capture, recording, and retrieval of information associated with an object using electromagnetic energy. This phenomenon is brought about using devices that transform light of varying frequencies into a single intense, nearly nondivergent beam of monochromatic radiation in the visible region.
Lasers operate in the visible, infrared, or ultraviolet regions of the spectrum.
They are capable of producing immense heat and power when focused at close range and are used in surgical procedures, in diagnosis, and in physiologic studies. The tag molecules are chosen to have large fluorescence quantum yields, which allows them to be observed with great selectivity. With the appropriate implementation, LFM has even proven capable of monitoring the dynamics of single fluorophores. To achieve good three-dimensional resolution, LFM must be implemented confocally. Furthermore, the laser intensities in LFM are high enough that fluorophores can photobleach rapidly and that other molecules that absorb light at the laser wavelength can be damaged.