Table 1. A comparison of the features and applications of the microscopies in cilia research.

Microscopes	Features	Applications in the cilia field	Specimens
Widefield	The entire specimen field is illuminated by a light source, high out-of-focus background, Images are captured by cameras	Cilium assembly and disassembly; Ciliary trafficking	Thin cells
LSCM	The specimen is illuminated by a single laser beam in a point-by-point scanning pattern, high excitation intensity, low out-of-focus background at the expense of speed; Signal intensity is detected by photomultiplier	Cilium assembly and disassembly; Ciliary trafficking; Ciliary ectosomes	Thin cells or thick tissues
SDCM	The entire specimen field is illuminated by multiple excitation beams simultaneously, low excitation intensity, rapid spatial and temporal image acquisition, low out-of-focus background; Images are captured by cameras	Cilium assembly and disassembly; Ciliary trafficking; Ciliary ectosomes; IFT movement	Thin cells or thick tissues
TIRFM	Only a thin surface region of a specimen is illuminated, lowest out-of-focus background, Excellent axial resolution; Images are captured by cameras	Ciliary trafficking; IFT movement	Thin cells
FRAP	Only selected ROI is intensively illuminated to photobleach fluorophores, the diffusion of fluorophores to the bleached region can be imaged with confocal or widefield setups	Ciliary trafficking; Intraciliary transport	Thin cells