Fig. 4: Full spectral fluorescence lifetime imaging of a histology slice of lung tissue.

a Haemotoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained histology image of lung tissue with increasing cancerous (adenocarcinoma) tissue (from right to left). Highlighted areas show cancerous (1) and visibly healthier (2) regions. Dashed areas indicate the regions imaged for the stained (red) and the equivalent unstained (black) slice. Three regions of interest are highlighted. b Intensity based imaging of a stained histology slice both with and without overlay of the histology image. Tiled images consist of 4 rows of 12, 256 × 256 pixel images with a field of view of 600 × 600 μm each which were taken with 1 ms exposure time per pixel. A series of images were taken and subsequently combined to form a composite image showing the complete area (~6 × 2 mm). c Corresponding lifetime images at different wavelengths. d Mean spectral intensity (left) and spectral lifetime (right) for the three regions of interest. e Intensity imaging of an unstained slice both with (top) and without (bottom) overlay with the histology image. Images consist of 5 rows of 12, 256 × 256 pixel images, each ~600 × 600 µm, 1 ms exposure time per pixel. f Lifetime image at 540 nm displayed with intensity-based color saturation and an inverted color saturation. g Mean spectral intensity and spectral lifetime or the three regions of interest. The data shown is from a single sample per slice with 60 FS-FLIM images per slice, taken once each, one histology image was taken.