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In confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy, the effective modulation transfer function with Gaussian plane wave illumination covers very few high-frequency components, which prohibits further improvement of the spatial resolution. In this study, we propose saturated confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy with linear polarization to achieve super-resolution imaging. In saturated confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy with linear polarization, the effective modulation transfer function in the Fourier domain is extended in comparison with that of Gaussian plane wave illumination. The digital algorithm is adapted to retrieve the super-resolved image from the modulated recordings. The simulation results demonstrated that saturated confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy with linear polarization could be used to increase the resolution in confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new method combining digital processing and FED method is proposed. • The method can improve the resolution of conventional confocal fluorescence microscopy. • The method reduces the information loss caused by subtraction in conventional FED method. Confocal fluorescence microscopy is an effective imaging technique, but its resolution is limited by the diffraction-limit. Fluorescence emission difference (FED) method is a useful way to improve the resolution of confocal fluorescence microscopy, but the negative values generated during subtraction process might cause loss of valid information. In this paper, we propose one effective method to enhance the resolution of confocal fluorescence microscopy without generating significant negative values. The proposed method combines digital processing and FED method, obtaining the final images with higher resolution and less information loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]