The Phasor Plot: A Universal Circle to Advance Fluorescence Lifetime Analysis and Interpretation

The phasor approach to fluorescence lifetime imaging has become a common method to analyze complicated fluorescence signals from biological samples. The appeal of the phasor representation of complex fluorescence decays in biological systems is that a visual representation of the decay of entire cells or tissues can be used to easily interpret fundamental biological states related to metabolism and oxidative stress. Phenotyping based on autofluorescence provides new avenues for disease characterization and diagnostics. The phasor approach is a transformation of complex fluorescence decays that does not use fits to model decays and therefore has the same information content as the original data. The phasor plot is unique for a given system, is highly reproducible, and provides a robust method to evaluate the existence of molecular interactions such as Forster resonance energy transfer or the response of ion indicators. Recent advances permit quantification of multiple components from phasor plots in fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, which is not presently possible using data fitting methods, especially in biological systems.

Automated summary

The phasor approach in fluorescence lifetime imaging has become a common method to analyze complex fluorescence signals in biological samples, providing insights into fundamental biological states and molecular interactions. It offers new avenues for disease characterization and diagnostics.