Epi-fluorescence microscopy fluorescence wide-field illumination and detection through the same objective lens, separat-ing the fluorescence emission from excitation light using dichroic mirrors and band-pass filtersspecific visualization of biomolecules with low background (compared to label-free methods)imaging fluorescent protein (FP)-labeled, dye-stained, or immunostained sampleTotal internal reflection fluores-cence (TIRF) microscopyfluorescence—optical sectioninglimiting the excitation volume to the close vicinity of the interface by sending the excitation light at an incident angle higher than the critical angle; usually implemented using a high numerical aperture (NA) objective.high signal-to-background for near-surface structuresmonitoring plasma mem-brane processes single-molecule detectionDeconvolution microscopy capturing a series of wide-field fluorescence images at different focal planes; computing the full three-dimensional (3D) structure using prior knowledge of the point spread function (PSF)optical sectioning in wide-field imag-ing; resolution enhancement (limited by the signal-to-noise ratio)general 3D imaging of cells and tissue samplesConfocal microscopy using a focused laser for excitation and a pinhole in the detection path to reject the out-of-focus fluorescence; optical sectioning of a thick sample; diffraction-limited resolution (~250 nm lateral, ~600 nm axial)general 3D imaging of cells and tissue samples; monitor-ing intracellular processesMultiphoton excitation microscopyusing high-intensity, focused infrared light to excite fluorophores by simultane-ous absorption of multiple (usually two) photons; infrared excitation and pinhole-free detection make it less affected by scattering in deep tissue imagingin vivo microscopy such as monitoring neuron behavior in live animalsSingle-plane illumination microscopy (SPIM)/light-sheet florescence microscopyusing a sheet of light to excite the sample from the direction perpendicular to the direction to detect fluorescence emission; wide-field images are captured with the depth-of-view confined by the thickness of the excitation light sheetreduced photo damage because the out-of-focus region is not illuminated during image acquisitionimaging the development of a whole embryoLight-field microscopy inserting a microlens array in front of the camera so that not only the intensi-ties but also the directions of light rays are recorded (at the cost of reduced lateral resolution)capturing a full 3D structure with a single snapshot3D imaging of tissue samples4Pi microscopy fluorescence– enhanced resolutionusing two opposing objectives and the interference of light through these two objectives to enhance the axial resolution; implemented in either point scan-ning format (4Pi microscopy) or wide-field format (I