Journal of biomedical optics
Label-free two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging of FADH2 for rapid diagnosis and grading of glioma
By Wang S, Yang Y, Yin C and 11 others.
Abstract
Significance
Glioma diagnosis currently relies on histopathology, which provides essential morphological information but fails to capture the dynamic metabolic heterogeneity underlying tumor progression.
Aim
This study seeks to establish a label-free fluorescence lifetime imaging strategy to characterize the metabolic microenvironment of gliomas, with the goal of achieving accurate tumor grading and real-time malignancy assessment. Approach: We developed a phasor plot-based two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (TP-FLIM) system. This imaging approach was utilized to evaluate tumor tissues by mapping microenvironmental phenotypes across four distinct glioma subtypes. In addition, we performed longitudinal in vivo tracking within an orthotopic glioma mouse model to monitor metabolic changes over time.