Interpretation of Confocal ISO 21073: 2019 confocal microscopes: Optical data of fluorescence confocal microscopes for biological imaging- Recommended Methodology for Quality Control

The performance of a confocal imaging system may be no better than a general-purpose widefield system if it is not properly maintained or quality controlled. The publication of ISO 21073, ‘Confocal microscopes- Optical data of fluorescence confocal microscopes for biological imaging’, set a standard for the minimal Quality Control (QC) that should be performed for Confocal Microscopes. Here we describe methodology for performing the QC requirements to satisfy ISO 21073, as well as suggesting other QC methods that should be performed to obtain a minimum level of information about the microscope system.