Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is an imaging technique that makes use of the inherent properties of fluorescent dyes. Aside from having characteristic emission spectra, each fluorescent molecule has a characteristic lifetime that reflects how long the fluorophore spends in the excited state before emitting a photon. Lifetime analysis provides you with information in addition to your standard fluorescence intensity measurements.
Historically, lifetime imaging has been a slow, complex, and specialized technique. Its use was limited to experienced microscopists or physicists. Leica Microsystems is at the cutting edge of today’s fluorescence lifetime imaging advances. Our systems make lifetime imaging faster and easier to use than ever before, binging its advantages to every day confocal imaging experiments.
Our experts on solutions for FLIM are happy to help you with their advice.
Boost confocal imaging with fluorescence lifetime information
Fluorescence lifetime imaging provides additional information that can help you improve the quality of your confocal imaging. It can be particularly useful to discriminate fluorescence probes that have overlapping fluorescent emission spectra, or to eliminate unwanted background fluorescent signals.
FLIM is a crucial application for measuring and quantifying imaging data. As lifetime information is independent of fluorophore concentration, it is extremely well suited for functional imaging. Functional imaging goes beyond the traditional recording of the location and concentration of molecular species and enables further investigation of molecular function, interactions, and their environment.
Additionally, FLIM enables novel imaging applications, such as the use of biosensors to study the cell’s microenvironment or imaging based on the intrinsic fluorescent properties of your sample.
Learn more about FLIM and its imaging applications with the SP8 FALCON system by referring to this application note.
Setting the standard for lifetime imaging
With the release of the fast and fully integrated lifetime imaging technology – the SP8 FALCON – Leica Microsystems set the benchmark for the future of lifetime imaging. Leica Microsystems received the prestigious R&D 100 Award for the SP8 FALCON system. This award recognizes the solution’s innovative approach to lifetime imaging.
Leica Microsystems solutions for FLIM enable you to harness the power of fluorescence lifetime to extract a new dimension of information from every sample with your confocal experiment. Investigate cellular physiology and explore cellular dynamics with FALCON. Get immediate access to functional information such as metabolic status, pH and ion concentration with the potential of Tausense in STELLARIS.
With our simplified, integrated platforms, you can gain new perspectives on your experiments, allowing you to harness new answers to your experimental questions.
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FLIM related articles
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SP8 FALCON: a novel concept in fluorescence lifetime imaging enabling video-rate confocal FLIM
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Precise and lightning-fast spectral Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging at video rate integrated in a high-end confocal microscope
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FLIM FRET and Biosensors: Versatile Tools for Biomedical Research
Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) in combination with Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) has proven to be very beneficial for investigations in biomedical research for a wide range of…Read article
Lifetime – a Proper Alternative
„Way too complicated!“ - the notorious feedback when it comes to fluorescence lifetime measurements. This will change now! New technologies and new concepts for data evaluation, all implemented in…Read article
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FLIM FRET - Förster Resonance Energy Transfer
A typical application of FLIM is FLIM-FRET. FRET is a well-established technique to study molecular interactions. It scrutinizes protein binding and estimates intermolecular distances on an Angström…Read article
FLCS - Fluorescence Lifetime Correlation Spectroscopy
Essentially, FCS can be performed with a continuous-wave laser. Using pulsed lasers allows even more sophisticated analysis possibilities, such as time-gated FCS or Fluorescence Lifetime Correlation…Read article
