Development of Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscope Using Tunable Picosecond Laser for Application to Living Cells

A microscope was combined with a picosecond dye laser and an intensified charge-coupled-device camera. The resulting fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope (FLIM) was applied to biological cells, e.g., cancer cells. The present technique has sufficient sensitivity, and allowed us to measure a wide FLIM image within a few minutes. Therefore, the FLIM system developed in this study can be widely used to explain a variety of biological phenomena in living cells.