Table 1.
Summary of the simulation results for a variety of fluorescence waveforms with different fluorescence lifetimes
| True lifetime (ns) | Calculated lifetime (ns) | Error (%) | True lifetime (ns) | Calculated lifetime (ns) | Error (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | 0.17 | 66 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 13 |
| 0.7 | 0.34 | 51 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 17 |
| 1 | 0.62 | 37 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 8 |
| 1.3 | 0.93 | 29 | 3 | 2.8 | 6 |
| 1.4 | 0.93 | 34 | 4 | 3.7 | 8 |
| 1.5 | 1 | 32 | 5 | 4.7 | 7 |
| 1.6 | 1.2 | 25 | 6 | 5.7 | 5 |
| 1.7 | 1.4 | 18 | 7 | 6.8 | 2 |
| 1.8 | 1.4 | 22 | 8 | 7.6 | 5 |
| 1.9 | 1.6 | 16 | 10 | 9.7 | 3 |
| 2 | 1.6 | 20 |
The ‘true lifetime’ column provides simulated data using Eq. (3) by a convolution of a Gaussian function with random noise and single-exponential decay functions. The fit of each simulated fluorescence waveform was determined by finding the optimum lifetime (noted as ‘calculated lifetime’) at minimum fitting error. The calculated lifetimes are listed in the second column. The absolute error percentages between the true lifetimes and the calculated lifetimes are listed in the third column.