A UV fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope to probe endogenous cellular fluorescence

Summary form only given. Fluorescence lifetimes are sensitive to local physical conditions and insensitive to artifacts affecting intensity based measurements, providing a complementary source of contrast for fluorescence microscopy. While lifetime microscopy is well-developed at visible wavelengths (e.g. fluorescence resonance energy transfer between exogenous fluorophores), FLIM of endogenous fluorophores is less developed with many potential uses (e.g. biomedical diagnostics). Near UV wavelengths may become important in clinical applications because structural proteins and metabolic co-factors have excitation maxima in this wavelength region. This paper presents the construction of a FLIM system with the sensitivity to detect cellular autofluorescence.