Patent ID: 7733470

Claim:
A method for determining the fluorescent lifetime of a sample in real-time using a stroboscopic instrument, the method comprising the steps of: measuring the instrument response function; pre-scanning the decay curve; identifying a peak intensity (Ip) of the decay curve and a peak time (Tp) at which the peak intensity occurs; determining a first delay time (Ta) and a second delay time (Tb); measuring a first intensity (Ia) at the first delay time; measuring a second intensity (Ib) at the second delay time; and calculating the fluorescent lifetime (T) of the sample in real-time based on the first and second delay times and the corresponding intensities, wherein the step of calculating the fluorescent lifetime (T) comprise the steps of: setting a comparison time parameter; determining whether the difference between the peak time and the first delay time is greater than the comparison time parameter; and if the difference between the peak time and the first delay time is greater than the comparison time parameter, calculating the fluorescent lifetime (T) according to the equation T= ( Ta−Tb )/ ln ( Ib )/( Ia ).