Fluorescence-lifetime Imaging Microscopy

Fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy or FLIM is an imaging technique for producing an image based on the differences in the exponential decay rate of the fluorescence from a fluorescent sample. It can be used as an imaging technique in confocal microscopy, two-photon excitation microscopy, and multiphoton tomography.

The lifetime of the fluorophore signal, rather than its intensity, is used to create the image in FLIM. This has the advantage of minimizing the effect of photon scattering in thick layers of sample.