Fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy or FLIM is an imaging technique for producing molecular images based on the fluorescence lifetime (the average time that the molecule spends in the excited state) from a fluorescent sample.The lifetime of the fluorophore signal, rather than its intensity, is used to create the image in FLIM. The fluorescence lifetime can function as a molecular stopwatch to observe a variety of events.The technique is thus particularly suitable for live-cell imaging.
