Revisit laser scanning fluorescence microscopy performance under fluorescence-lifetime-limited regime

Abstract

Continuing desire for higher-speed laser scanning fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) and progressive advancement in ultrafast and sensitive photodetectors might imply that our conventional understanding of LSFM is not adequate when approaching to the intrinsic speed limit - fluorescence lifetime. In this regard, we here revisit the theoretical framework of LSFM and evaluate its general performance in lifetime-limited and noise-limited regimes. Our model suggests that there still exists an order-of-magnitude gap between the current LSFM speed and the intrinsic limit. An imaging frame rate of > 100 kHz could be viable with the emerging laser-scanning techniques using ultrafast wavelength-swept sources, or optical time-stretch. © 2014 SPIE.