A modular luminescence lifetime imaging system for mapping oxygen distribution in biological samples

We developed a new modular luminescence lifetime imaging system (MOLLI), th at enables the imaging of luminescence lifetimes in the range of 1 mu s to 1 s. The system can easily be adapted to different experimental application s. The central parts of the system are a recently released CCD-camera with a fast electronic shutter and gated LED (light emitting diode) or Xe excita tion light sources, A personal computer controls the gating and image acqui sition via a pulse delay generator. Here we present the new imaging system and give examples of its performance when used for measuring two-dimensiona l oxygen distributions with planar optodes. Furthermore, future application s of the system in biology are discussed, (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. Al l rights reserved.