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Mesoscopic fluorescence lifetime imaging: Fundamental principles, clinical applications and future directions
Author(s) -
AlfonsoGarcia Alba,
Bec Julien,
Weyers Brent,
Marsden Mark,
Zhou Xiangnan,
Li Cai,
Marcu Laura
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of biophotonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1864-0648
pISSN - 1864-063X
DOI - 10.1002/jbio.202000472
Subject(s) - mesoscopic physics , fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy , instrumentation (computer programming) , optical imaging , workflow , nanotechnology , medical physics , computer science , physics , fluorescence , materials science , optics , quantum mechanics , database , operating system
Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIm) is an optical spectroscopic imaging technique capable of real‐time assessments of tissue properties in clinical settings. Label‐free FLIm is sensitive to changes in tissue structure and biochemistry resulting from pathological conditions, thus providing optical contrast to identify and monitor the progression of disease. Technical and methodological advances over the last two decades have enabled the development of FLIm instrumentation for real‐time, in situ, mesoscopic imaging compatible with standard clinical workflows. Herein, we review the fundamental working principles of mesoscopic FLIm, discuss the technical characteristics of current clinical FLIm instrumentation, highlight the most commonly used analytical methods to interpret fluorescence lifetime data and discuss the recent applications of FLIm in surgical oncology and cardiovascular diagnostics. Finally, we conclude with an outlook on the future directions of clinical FLIm.