This family includes a single Australian patent, which relates to a confocal microscope, which has a light beam transmitter in the form of optical fibres and an objective lens for receiving the light beam, and for focusing the light beam onto an object to illuminate a confined observational field on or within the object and for receiving light emanating from the confined observational field. The objective lens is physically independent of the transmitter so as to be positionable adjacent to an object to the view at a location separated from the transmitter by free space, and there is a beam aiming means for aiming the light beam from the transmitter to the objective lens through the free space.
