Widefield Lifetime Imaging with CMOS Single Photon Counting Arrays

Fluorescent lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is a powerful tool to study fundamental behaviour of biological systems. By measuring the inherent lifetime from fluorescent markers, FLIM provides a more robust imaging modality than using fluorescence intensity alone. However, FLIM traditionally relies on using one single photon detector to count photons, limiting the imaging mode to scanning microscopy, an inherently slow technique that prevents applying FLIM to live, dynamic biological systems, notably living cells. This talk will discuss our aims to deliver several orders of magnitude improvement on FLIM acquisition speeds by incorporating a state of the art single photon detector array from collaborators in Edinburgh University. These arrays incorporate 1024 single photon detectors, and counting electronics, into a single camera. As will be discussed such cameras have potential applications extending beyond FLIM imaging, from widefield Raman spectroscopy for detecting water borne pathogens and for bedside point of care endoscopy for critically ill ICU patients.