Swabian Instruments - 施瓦本仪器® logo联系我们

Biophysical Society Annual Meeting (BPS) 2026:Time-Resolved Measurements, FLIM, and DLS

作者 Yizhou Wang | 日期 08 May 2026

The Biophysical Society Annual Meeting (BPS) 2026, held from February 15–19 in San Francisco, California. Swabian Instruments showcased our fluorescence lifetime measurement demo and DLScat system to researchers working in biophysics.

The Biophysical Society Annual Meeting (BPS) is an annual meeting with an intrinsic, dynamic, multi-scale nature of the biophysics field. The program included verticals such as membrane transport and calcium signaling, as well as the biophysics of immunity, cancer, and protein design. As the Swabian Instruments team continues to expand the scope of applications targeted to support scientific research, we decided to attend BPS for the first time.

Photo of Swabian Instruments team member Yizhou Wang at the joint Swabian Instruments and ISS booth during the BPS Meeting 2026 in San Francisco. He is demonstrating a fluorescence lifetime measurement setup featuring a laser, Pulse Streamer, Time Tagger, and SPAD detector, while the laptop screen displays the fluorescence lifetime signal.
Swabian Instruments team member Yizhou Wang at the joint Swabian Instruments and ISS booth during the BPS Meeting 2026 in San Francisco.

Swabian Instruments’ Ongoing Collaboration with ISS Inc.

At the Swabian Instruments booth, visitors were particularly interested in how the Time Taggers enable precise detection and analysis of photon arrival times. These capabilities are essential for a wide range of experiments in fluorescence lifetime analysis, correlation experiments, and time-resolved spectroscopy. Together with ISS Inc., whose instrumentation supports advanced fluorescence and time-resolved spectroscopy research, we demonstrated how to integrate optical measurement platforms and high-performance timing electronics into a practical workflow. In this collaboration, ISS brings expertise in spectroscopy platforms, while our Time Tagger provides the timing precision and flexible data analysis needed to capture photon dynamics at high temporal resolution.

In addition, the DLScat system generated strong interest among conference attendees. DLScat measures particle size in real time using multi-angle dynamic light scattering (DLS), enabling researchers to observe how particle populations evolve over time. For many scientists studying nanoscale biological assemblies, the ability to capture dynamic particle size distributions in real time provides valuable insight into processes such as molecular assembly, aggregation, and condensate formation. The ability to analyze kinetics is particularly important to track changes in particle size and dynamics over time, opening new possibilities for studying evolving biological and soft-matter systems. These discussions highlighted a growing interest in tools that not only measure size, but also help researchers better understand dynamic processes as they happen.

Particle Size Analysis as the Main Point of Discussion at the Poster Sessions

At BPS 2026, the poster sessions were among the most distinctive and valuable parts of scientific exchange and discussion. DLScat drew strong interest during the BPS poster sessions because it offered a new way to view dynamic biological and soft-matter systems. Its real-time, multi-angle dynamic light scattering capability led researchers to think beyond conventional DLS as a simple particle-sizing tool and sparked discussions about projects that are often considered difficult or even unsuitable for traditional particle size analysis systems. This included low-refractive-index-contrast samples, where weak scattering makes standard measurements challenging, as well as theoretical studies of protein dynamics that require experimental validation. For many researchers, the value of DLScat lies not only in its ability to measure size but also in its potential to reveal time-dependent processes, compare behavior across scattering angles, and provide experimental insight into systems that are otherwise hard to capture. These discussions often went beyond brief introductions and led to thoughtful exchanges about possible collaborations, making the poster sessions an especially valuable and successful part of the meeting.

Overall, BPS 2026 was a valuable opportunity to engage with researchers working on complex and dynamic biological systems. The depth of the conversations throughout the meeting highlighted a strong need for flexible measurement approaches that can better connect experimental capabilities with real scientific questions.

Application Page

Fluorescence Lifetime Flow Cytometry (FLFC)

查看更多内容
Figure 1: Schematic of a fluorescence lifetime flow cytometry setup. A pulsed laser excites a fluorescent sample. Emitted photons (blue, light red, dark red) are filtered by spectrum and collected by single-photon detectors. A time-to-digital converter (Time Tagger) correlates the laser trigger with photon arrival times to measure fluorescence lifetime histograms. These fluorophore-unique histograms enable fluorophore discrimination, even in the case when spectral filters fail due to spectral overlap.
Application Page

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM)

查看更多内容
Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM)
Application Page

Time-Resolved Photoluminescence (TRPL)

查看更多内容
Application Page

Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) Particle Size Analysis

查看更多内容
Figure 1. The image consists of two main parts: the top half is a schematic of a Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) setup, and the bottom half shows the DLS analysis and comparison between large and small particles based on the measured data. Top: A laser source emits a monochromatic light that travels horizontally and enters a transparent sample container (a cuvette). Inside this cuvette, several blue particles are shown in random “Brownian” motion. A Single Photon Detector “SPD” is situated at an angle θ from the laser propagation to collect the scattering data from the sample. The correlator acquires and calculates the correlation of the timing data from the detectors in real time. A cable connects the correlator to a computer “PC”, where data analysis is performed. Bottom: Visualization of the different behavior of small and large particles in solution, represented as blue circles (dark and light blue, respectively) and with their hydrodynamic radius (Rs and RL, respectively). Three different analysis plots are shown underneath, from left to right: Left: Intensity vs. Time (s): Two jagged lines represent the fluctuations in light intensity over time.The large particle has slower and smoother fluctuations in light blue color. The small particle shows faster fluctuations in dark blue color. Middle: Autocorrelation Function (ACF) vs. log 𝜏 (s): This plot shows two autocorrelation curves that represent the diffusion behavior of particles suspended in the examined solution. The large particle's curve decays more slowly. The small particle's curve decays faster, reflecting quicker diffusion. Right: Intensity vs. Size (nm): A graph with two sharp Gaussian curves. The left peak is labeled Rs for the small particle. The right peak is labeled RL for the large particle, indicating a size distribution derived from the correlation data.
Cookie Policy
We use third party service providers, like Freshworks Inc ("Freshworks") to enable interaction with you on our website and/or our product. As a data processor acting on our behalf, Freshworks automatically receives and records certain information of yours like device model, IP address, the type of browser being used and usage pattern through cookies and browser settings. Freshworks performs analytics on such data on our behalf which helps us improve our service to you. You can read about the cookies Freshworks' sets in their cookie policy here.