Phasor EO-FLIM: Lifetime imaging with picosecond noise and 500 Hz frame rate

Fluorescence lifetime microscopy is limited by photon throughput, constraining the speed and dynamic range of biological measurements. We demonstrate a compact optical module and fast phasor acquisition methods to image multi-exponential lifetimes at 500 Hz in vivo and with over 10 ¹⁰ photons per second in static tissues. Action potentials are captured in phasor plots, and lifetime contrast is revealed from autofluorescence and wheat germ agglutinin stain with 20 picosecond pixel noise.