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| author | Zoe Chapman Hughes |
| title | Methods for Characterizing a Confocal Microscope with Optical Phantoms |
| abstract | Confocal microscopes can produce high-resolution images of thick biological samples. Before biological samples
can be imaged, a microscope needs to be characterized and calibrated with optical phantoms, which are artificial specimens that mimic the optical
properties of biological samples. I designed and built a custom reflectance scanning confocal microscope that operates at a wavelength 660 nm. I
assessed the confocal microscope's axial sectioning with two sets of optical phantoms. With the optical phantoms, I aimed to mimic human skin that
has a scattering coefficient in the range 30 to 70 cm-1. The optical phantoms were a mixture of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a plastic-like
material, and a scattering material Min-U-Sil40. I developed an apparatus and method for measuring the scattering coefficient of the optical phantoms.
The first set consisted of four samples with the same scattering coefficient, 2 cm-1, but different thicknesses. The second set consisted of
three samples: two with the same scattering coefficient, around 118 cm-1, and one with a scattering coefficient of 35 cm-1. All
three samples varied in thickness. With the low scattering coefficient, I found that variations in the optical phantom's thickness had no effect on the
axial sectioning. With the high scattering coefficient, I concluded that the axial sectioning was affected by changes in thickness. The optical phantom
mixture proved to be a success because it was capable of mimicking human skin and tissue. It was also stable and could be reused multiple times. Further
research is needed to prepare the microscope to image live biological samples. |
| school | The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University |
| degree | B.A. (2017) |
| advisor | Bjorg Larson |
| committee | Jim Supplee
Roger Knowles |
| full text | ZCHughes.pdf |
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