Specto Srl, within the framework of the regional program FESR 2021–2027 Axis 1: “A more competitive and intelligent Europe,” has received a grant of €14,400 thanks to its participation in the 2023 Patents Call promoted by Regione Lombardia. The project strengthens the IP portfolio of Specto Photonics in the context of developing new technologies for Brillouin spectroscopy. The financial support is allocated to two patent-related initiatives, both referring to an international patent extension.


Specto Srl, nell’ambito del programma regionale FESR 2021-2027 Asse 1: “Un’Europa più competitiva e intelligente” ha ottenuto un contributo a fondo perduto di 14.400 Euro, grazie alla partecipazione al bando Brevetti 2023 promosso da Regione Lombardia. Il progetto concerne il rafforzamento del portfolio IP di Specto Photonics nell’ambito dello sviluppo di nuove tecnologie per la spettroscopia Brillouin. Il sostegno finanziario è attribuito a nr. 2 interventi brevettuali, entrambi riferibili ad un’estensione internazionale di brevetto.

The next generation of Brillouin researchers is heading back to the classroom.

On 8 and 9 August, the 2026 Brillouin Summer School will bring young scientists to Michigan State University for hands-on training on constructing and operating confocal Brillouin microscopes, as well as on analyzing and interpreting the data.

By probing biological materials without contact, labels or invasive procedures, Brillouin microscopy holds growing potential for biomedical research. Sharing the knowledge needed to use this emerging technology is key to driving the field forward.

Specto Photonics is proud to be one of the sponsors of this year’s summer school. We wish the organisers, instructors and participants an inspiring and productive two days.

Learn more about the summer school: https://www.brilloptics.org/brillouin-summer-school.html

A busy booth and many great conversations at ISMB 2026.

We spent a full few days helping visitors discover ALBA and explore how our on-chip spectrometer could support multimodal Brillouin mechanical imaging in the lab.

Bringing together researchers from across disciplines, this year’s ISMB highlighted the growing size and visibility of the mechanobiology community, alongside fast-growing interest in Brillouin imaging.

Thank you to everyone who visited us, attended Giuseppe Antonacci’s talk on our groundbreaking technology and shared such positive feedback. Many thanks also to Massimo Vassalli and the organising team for an excellent conference.

We leave Glasgow inspired and ready to keep the conversation going.

#ISMB2026 #SynSci26 #Mechanobiology #BrillouinMicroscopy #Biophotonics

Specto Photonics and international research partners have developed a multimodal spectroscopy platform that measures these properties from the same voxel of laser light, without touching or labelling the sample.

The method captures the full vibrational spectrum, combining Brillouin, ultra-low-frequency Raman and conventional Raman signals to provide a more complete view of the material.

Tested on indomethacin, ibuprofen and paracetamol, the platform distinguished between hard-to-detect amorphous forms of the same drug and mapped material variation across an ibuprofen tablet, demonstrating early impact for pharmaceutical analysis.

Published in Nature Communications, the study was developed with Politecnico di Milano and international academic partners. It marks an important step toward fully optical instruments with potential across biomedical research and materials science.

Read the full article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-74558-z

It was a pleasure to take part in wide-ranging discussions with researchers exploring mechanics from many different perspectives, from molecular and subcellular mechanics to cell and tissue dynamics, plant and bacterial systems, disease and regeneration, and emerging technologies.

For Specto Photonics, these conversations highlighted the important role that non-contact, non-destructive and label-free Brillouin microscopy can play in studying mechanics across biological systems.

A big thank you to EMBLE and scientific organisers Alba Diz-Muñoz, Nicoletta Petridou, Xavier Trepat, Kirsty Wan and Enrique Rojas and everyone who took the time to connect.

Interested in learning more? Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

#EESMechanobiology #Brillouin #Mechanobiology #BrillouinSpectroscopy #AdvancedImaging

 

Do you want to join our team and help advance Brillouin microscopy around the globe?

Specto Photonics is looking for a Microscopy Application Engineer to support the deployment of ALBA, the first fully integrated Brillouin spectrometer on a chip.

This role puts you at the centre of cutting-edge microscopy applications, combining customer demos, technical presentations, training and hands-on ALBA installation on advanced systems.

The position is based in Italy and requires frequent travel.

Excited by the prospect of supporting both the scientific impact and commercial growth of a breakthrough technology?

Apply through the LinkedIn job opening or contact Specto Photonics.

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4421114747/

Photonics Microscopy Spectroscopy Brillouin Mechanobiology OpticalEngineering Hiring

Our study revealed the biomechanics of intracellular structures, such as the intracellular envelope and the enclosed nucleoli, that were previously unknown, further showing how these compartments respond to external chemical stimuli.

This demonstrated the potential of this high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging technique to map the mechanical properties of single living cells in a non-invasive way, opening a new window into how cells respond to treatment.

A decade on, the field continues to move forward, building on these early insights to better understand living systems and what lies beneath the surface.

We are proud to be among the key drivers of this progress.

Explore the article to take a closer look:  https://www.nature.com/articles/srep37217

Analytica 2026 was one to remember!

It was a packed few days in Munich, and a real pleasure to engage with so many new and familiar faces. We saw strong interest in our technologies and had many thoughtful exchanges on the possibilities unlocked by integrated Brillouin spectroscopy.

This highly attended edition shows that the conference remains a key gathering for those working at the forefront of analysis and instrumentation.

A big thank you to Mountain Photonics and Dr. Andrea Teuber for hosting us, and to everyone who made time to connect.

🔬 We were excited to showcase our advanced integrated solutions during last week’s workshop on Brillouin microscopy for life science applications hosted by EMBL in Heidelberg.

Our CEO, Giuseppe Antonacci, demonstrated how Brillouin spectral measurements can be significantly accelerated and simplified for mechanobiologists, biophysicists, and biomedical engineers entering the field, using Specto’s proprietary solutions.

Participants also had the opportunity to see our high-rejection BIPD filter in action during a live demonstration by Tzu-Lung Wang (EMBL), showcasing its ultrahigh suppression performance in Brillouin microscopy measurements of highly turbid biological samples, including fresh bone.

It is exciting to witness the continued growth of the Brillouin community and to explore how emerging technologies can empower the next wave of research.

#BrillouinMicroscopy #LifeSciences #BiomedicalEngineering #Biophysics #Mechanobiology #EMBLBrillouin #Brillouin #ScientificTraining

Full-Vibrational Spectroscopy 🔬

Our research scientist, Morteza Behrouzitabar, introduced a groundbreaking method to measure the entire vibrational spectrum last week at VISPEC in Pavia.

Harnessing our proprietary high-rejection BIPD filter, this method uniquely gives simultaneous access to three distinctive spectral regimes: Brillouin, Raman THz, and traditional Raman.

Combined together, these spectral regions cover the full-fibrational spectrum, providing fundamental information about mechanical, structural and chemical properties of materials, such as pharmaceuticals.

Stay tuned to know more!