New Method for Measuring Luminescence Lifetime Provides Versatility in Scientific Imaging

Oxygen is a key molecule for life and, in order to understand ecosystem dynamics, it may be important to trace its pathways in more detail. Optical sensors using luminescent dyes have long been used to map oxygen levels in marine systems. Oxygen reduces the phosphorescence life of dyes, which thus indicate oxygen concentrations.

However, until now, luminescence lifetime imaging required specialized and expensive equipment, making the technique out of reach for many research and industrial applications.

A joint research team from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research and the University of Copenhagen, together with international partners, has developed a pioneering method for imaging the duration life of luminescent signals.

This revolutionary technique enables high-speed measurement of luminescence lifetime, transforming fields that rely on optical sensing and chemical imaging. The results were published in the journal ACS sensors.

Bringing to the general public the measurement of the lifespan of luminescence

“Our new integrated method simplifies these measurements, allowing researchers to determine the luminescence lifetime using standard camera systems,” explains Soeren Ahmerkamp, ​​who led the research at the Max Planck Institute in marine microbiology in Bremen and at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research. in Warnemünde, both in Germany.

By synchronizing short bursts of light with the camera’s precise timing through a technique called frame-straddleing, two images are captured. One that records the initial light flash and another that measures the initial light flash and longer lasting luminescent afterglow.

The difference between these images reveals the lifetime of the integrated luminescence, providing a detailed and accurate readout at sub-millisecond time scales.

“We provide a more accessible way to measure luminescence lifetime, which is often considered the gold standard in optical sensing,” says Michael Kühl of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

“By adopting the image overlap technique originally developed for high-speed flow measurements, we have created a technique that can be used with a wide range of commercially available cameras. This will enable more laboratories to perform high-quality measurements. -Lifetime imaging resolution.”

Opening up new possibilities in chemical imaging

The ability to measure luminescence lifetime easily and at high speed opens new possibilities for chemical imaging. Researchers can now record oxygen dynamics with much higher temporal and spatial precision.

“We tracked the oxygen dynamics around the algae in a hundredth of a second and visualized how oxygen-consuming particles move through the water, demonstrating the usefulness of the method,” explains Ahmerkamp.

“The integrated luminescence decay method can be used to better understand how oxygen varies in marine environments, from the scale of microscopic particles to entire ecosystems.”

Accelerate the pace of scientific and industrial discoveries

This new approach could spur more luminescence lifetime imaging applications in environmental and biomedical sciences and engineering. By making high-precision measurements more accessible, this can stimulate new experimental approaches, thereby accelerating the pace of discoveries in these areas.

“Our goal was to democratize access to a powerful analytical tool,” adds Ahmerkamp. “We believe this method will allow researchers to explore complex chemical interactions with more ease and flexibility than ever before.”