Fluorescence lifetime estimation method for incomplete decay

A new incomplete decay signal model is proposed to describe the incomplete decay effects in a time- correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) based fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) system. Based on this model, we modified a MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm to eliminate the incomplete decay effects. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out to demonstrate the performances of the proposed approach. Simulations show that the proposed method is insensitive to the laser pulse rate and has a larger lifetime dynamic range compared with previously reported approaches. As far as we know, this new method is the first non-fitting method that can resolve incomplete decay effects for multi-exponential decays.