Deconvolution methods for 3-D fluorescence microscopy images

A fluorescence microscope is a light microscope used to study properties of organic or inorganic substances using the phenomenon of fluorescence and phosphorescence instead of, or in addition to, reflection and absorption. These microscopes can be categorized into two major groups: the widefield microscope and the confocal microscope. In both microscope groups, imaging properties and measurement imperfections distort the original 3-D image and reduce the maximal resolution obtainable by the imaging system. The most severe distortion in the acquired 3-D image is often due to point-spread function (PSF). Fortunately, several 3-D image deconvolution techniques are already available and these fall into six broad classes: no-neighbors methods, neighboring methods, linear methods, nonlinear methods, statistical methods, and blind deconvolution methods.