Product News

April 18, 2024

New development enables rapid 3D FLIM imaging in living organoids

Combining single objective light-sheet microscopy with pulsed excitation and time-resolved SPAD array detection

Using a self-developed single objective light-sheet microscopy set-up, Valentin Dunsing-Eichenauer from Aix-Marseille Université & CNRS, Johan Hummert from PicoQuant, Ivan Michel Antolović from Pi Imaging Technology, and colleagues show lifetime-based multiplexing in 3D as well as time-lapse FLIM of mechanosensitive tension probes at record speed in living embryonic organoids. The set-up is based on pulsed excitation using a high power laser prototype and time-resolved detection on a newly available SPAD array detector.

Confocal FLIM is a popular tool for multiplexing and functional imaging of sensor fluorophores, but it is limited with regard to acquisition speed of large samples and live cell compatibility. Light-sheet microscopy, on the other hand, allows for fast and gentle imaging of large specimen. Combining both techniques opens new possibilities for fast volumetric FLIM.

Read the paper at bioRxiv >

April 4, 2024

Enhanced synchronization capabilities with White Rabbit interface

Available for our multichannel event timers MultiHarp 150 and MultiHarp 160

The White Rabbit interface offers precise synchronization and timestamping for two separate time taggers with multiple channels. This ensures accurate time correlation between multiple devices or even different experiments, without cumbersome postprocessing. Amongst other applications, this is particularly relevant for quantum cryptography experiments.

PicoQuant's new Python wrapper snAPI allows you to easily implement White Rabbit into your experiments, enabling the simultaneous measurement initiation of two devices with predefinable measurement times. This ensures precise and reliable data acquisition, further streamlining synchronization capabilities across various applications.

White Rabbit interfaces are available with our MultiHarp 150 and MultiHarp 160 multichannel event timers.

Picture: Example of a network topology. The green bubbles stand for a MultiHarp 150 or MultiHarp 160 device. The blue bubbles represent the White Rabbit switches. 

September 27, 2023

PicoQuant’s commitment to sustainable consumption: extending the lifespan of scientific systems

A 21-year-old MicroTime 200 microscope receives comprehensive upgrade

Extending product lifespan is considered to be most effective way towards sustainable consumption. With this in mind, we at PicoQuant design our systems so that they can be repaired and upgraded for a long time, enabling cutting-edge research for many years.

Here is one example: The second MicroTime 200 fluorescence microscope ever sold, which was installed in 2002, received a comprehensive upgrade, breathing new life into a two-decade-old system at the Instituto Superior Técnico, in Lisbon, Portugal. It is wonderful to see that a system sold 21 years ago is still operational in the lab of Prof. Sílvia Brito Costa and Pedro Paulo and can be serviced by us.

September 8, 2023

PicoQuant releases time tagger PicoHarp 330 with outstanding timing precision of 2 ps RMS

The new event timer and TCSPC unit is made for cutting-edge photonics research

At PicoQuant, innovation is our driving force, and today, we are excited to introduce our latest addition to our scientific time tagger family: PicoHarp 330 Precise and Versatile Event Timer & TCSPC Unit

A glimpse into PicoHarp 330's remarkable features:

• Easy-to-use: plug-and-play event timer, user-friendly software included
• A time resolution of 1 ps and outstanding timing precision of 2 ps RMS (single channel, 3 ps RMS between channels)
• User selectable trigger method, supports widest possible variety of single photon detectors
• Exceptional data throughput via USB 3.0 interface allows count rates up to 85 million counts per second
• Compact and robust: high quality reflected by unique 5-year limited warranty

With the PicoHarp 330 at your disposal, you'll be equipped to break new ground, unlock fresh possibilities, and gain deeper insights into the fascinating realm of photonics and beyond. To discover more cutting-edge features, visit the product website.

For more information, contact our application specialists.

September 4, 2023

PicoQuant releases fast and intuitive Python wrapper snAPI

Seamless communication, configuration, and data handling with TCSPC devices

PicoQuant releases Snappy new API (snAPI), a powerful Python wrapper which enables seamless communication and configuration with PicoQuant’s Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) and Time Tagging Electronics. It harnesses the advantages of C++ for optimal speed and performance and bridges the gap between the high-speed capabilities of PicoQuant’s TCSPC devices and the ease of use and versatility of Python.

It is available for free at GitHub.

> snAPI product page