We introduce a technique that limits absorption effects in fluorescence imaging and does not require extensive imaging processing, thus allowing for video rate imaging. The absorption minimization is achieved using spatial frequency domain imaging at a single high spatial frequency with standard three-phase demodulation. At a spatial frequency f ¼ 0.5 mm−1, we demonstrated in both in-vitro phantoms and ex-vivo tissue that the absorption can be significantly reduced. In the real-time implementation, we achieved a video rate of 19 frames∕s. This technique has potential in cancer visualization and tumor margin detection.