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Background Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is a novel imaging technique that generates image contrast between different states of tissue due to differences in fluorescence decay rates.

Objectives To establish whether FLIM of skin autofluorescence can provide useful contrast between basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and surrounding uninvolved skin.

Methods Unstained excision biopsies of 25 BCCs were imaged en face with FLIM following excitation of autofluorescence with a 355 nm pulsed ultraviolet laser.

Results Using FLIM we were able to distinguish areas of BCC from surrounding skin in an ex vivo study. Significant reductions in mean fluorescence lifetimes between areas of BCC and areas of surrounding uninvolved skin were demonstrated (P <0·0001). These differences were apparent irrespective of the decay model used to calculate the fluorescence …