Photobleaching is an inherent phenomenon in fluorophores, and it has a damaging effect in fluorescence microscopy. In fluorescence imaging, photobleaching causes an overall decrease in the intensity of light and limits the exposure time until loss of fluorescence occurs. As a result, the observation time of a fluorescence-tagged specimen is limited and this can lead to a dramatic loss of the image quality. Thus it is often necessary to analyze the kinetics of photobleaching of fluorophores and make corrections.

Goal of this project is to develop an appropriate photobleaching process model that will characterize empirically the intensity decay from the image time series data. This model will then be used for the photobleaching correction of STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion microscopy) microscopy images.

Collaboration: Dr. Nathalie Garin, Swiss Confocal Specialist at Leica Microsystems