A, influence of laser beams on the fluorescence lifetime of 100 nm fluorescent microspheres at different laser powers in confocal and stimulated emission depletion (STED) imaging modes, respectively. B, confocal- and STED-FLIM images at different illumination time (ie, the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th confocal-FLIM images and the 1st, 3th, 5th and 7th STED-FLIM images). Pixel dwell time: 4 μs; the exposure time per pixel: 45 μs; pixel size: 20 nm; scale bar: 2 μm