I share my opinions on the benefits of and bottlenecks for hyperspectral and time-resolved imaging. I also discuss current and future perspectives for analyzing these types of data using the phasor approach.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Lipid packing and cholesterol content regulate membrane wetting and remodeling by biomolecular condensates
Nature Communications Open Access 20 March 2025
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout


References
Balzarotti, F. et al. Science 355, 606–612 (2017).
Digman, M. A., Stakic, M. & Gratton, E. In Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy (FFS) Part A (ed. Tetin, S. Y.) Ch. 6, 121–144 (Academic, 2013).
Malacrida, L., Ranjit, S., Jameson, D. M. & Gratton, E. Annu. Rev. Biophys. 50, 575–593 (2021).
Torrado, B., Malacrida, L. & Ranjit, S. Sensors (Basel) 22, 999 (2022).
Hanley, Q. S. & Clayton, A. H. A. J. Microsc. 218, 62–67 (2005).
Digman, M. A., Caiolfa, V. R., Zamai, M. & Gratton, E. Biophys. J. 94, L14–L16 (2008).
Redford, G. I. & Clegg, R. M. J. Fluoresc. 15, 805–815 (2005).
Weber, G. J. Phys. Chem. 85, 949–953 (1981).
Jameson, D. M., Gratton, E. & Hall, R. D. Appl. Spectrosc. Rev. 20, 55–106 (1984).
Ranjit, S., Malacrida, L., Jameson, D. M. & Gratton, E. Nat. Protoc. 13, 1979–2004, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-018-0026-5 (2018).
Fereidouni, F., Bader, A. N. & Gerritsen, H. C. Opt. Express 20, 12729–12741 (2012).
Sarmento, M. J. et al. Nat. Commun. 9, 3415 (2018).
Vergeldt, F. J. et al. Sci. Rep. 7, 861 (2017).
Ma, N., Digman, M. A., Malacrida, L. & Gratton, E. Biomed. Opt. Express 7, 2441–2452 (2016).
Vu, T. et al. Nat. Commun. 13, 169 (2022).
Vallmitjana, A., Lepanto, P., Irigoin, F. & Malacrida, L. Methods Appl. Fluoresc. 11, 14001 (2023).
Stringari, C., Nourse, J. L., Flanagan, L. A. & Gratton, E. PLoS One 7, e48014 (2012).
Malacrida, L., Jameson, D. M. & Gratton, E. Sci. Rep. 7, 9215 (2017).
Vorontsova, I. et al. Sci. Adv. 8, eabj4833 (2022).
Castello, M. et al. Nat. Methods 16, 175–178 (2019).
Dvornikov, A., Malacrida, L. & Gratton, E. Methods Protoc. 2, 53 (2019).
Hedde, P. N., Cinco, R., Malacrida, L., Kamaid, A. & Gratton, E. Commun. Biol 4, 721 (2021).
Ranjit, S., Malacrida, L. & Gratton, E. Microsc. Res. Tech. 81, 980–989 (2018).
Vallmitjana, A., Torrado, B. & Gratton, E. Biomed. Opt. Express 12, 3410–3422 (2021).
Chiang, H. J. et al. Nat. Methods 20, 248–258 (2023).
Acknowledgements
L.M. is indebted to David M. Jameson for critical reading and valuable suggestions. L.M. is supported by the grants 2020-225439, 2021-240122 and 2022-252604 from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; by FOCEM - Fondo para la Convergencia Estructural del Mercosur (COF 03/11); and by Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica (CSIC) I+D – 2020 grant #606.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Malacrida, L. Phasor plots and the future of spectral and lifetime imaging. Nat Methods 20, 965–967 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-01906-y
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-01906-y
This article is cited by
-
Lipid packing and cholesterol content regulate membrane wetting and remodeling by biomolecular condensates
Nature Communications (2025)
-
Fluorescence phasor analysis: basic principles and biophysical applications
Biophysical Reviews (2025)