Thickness Measurements on V79-4 Cells: A Comparison between Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Electron Microscopy

Summary

A quantitative comparison has been carried out between laser scanning confocal microscopy on living cells and standard electron microscope methods on fixed samples. It was estimated from these measurements that there was about 10–20% reduction in thickness in fixed samples of monolayer V79-4 hamster cells. Precise information on the true thickness of living cells, as irradiated, is required for full interpretation of radiobiological data with poorly penetrating radiations, including ultrasoft X-rays. The confocal microscope allows rapid measurements on unperturbed living samples.