Confocal microscopy provides improved optical sectioning and resolution compared to the widefield microscopy, by eliminating or reducing the out-of-focus light. Serial acquisition of xy-dimensional images at different z-positions would offer the three-dimensional structural information of thick samples.

Examples of the types of experiments that need confocal microscopy include:

• Observation of intracellular organelles (mitochondria, Golgi, etc) in cultured cells
• Gathering 3D information of organoids
• Assessment of protein expression in tissue sections with a fluorescence immunostaining