Confocal light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy of the human eye lens

The potential of confocal light microscopy (CLM) for in vivo observation of pathology in the anterior pole of the eye lenses was evaluated by performing an in vitro study of human lenses comparing this type of microscopy with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In vitro CLM showed high resolution images of the epithelium which would enable early detection of pathology and easily allows cell counting and estimating cell size. Superficial lens fibres are well visualized and low and high frequency bands as well as vacuolar elements were easily detected. SEM observations fully supported the CLM observations. This study shows that CLM has the potential to become a useful tool for detecting lens changes, after suitable adaptation for clinical use. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.