Schaefer SEE at BraYn 2026 in Catania: Advanced Tools for Extracellular Vesicles and Label-Free 3D Imaging in Neuroscience

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly investigated in neuroscience as mediators of cell-to-cell communication, potential biomarkers and possible therapeutic tools. Their study, however, depends strongly on reliable and reproducible methods for both isolation and physical characterisation.

At BraYn 2026, we will present the Izon Science workflow for extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles, including the qEV platform for size-exclusion chromatography-based isolation and single-particle analysis technologies.

Izon's qEV platform enables EV purification from several sample types relevant to biomedical research, including cerebrospinal fluid, plasma and cell-culture media, with different column configurations available according to sample volume and desired balance between purity and recovery. Read more

For neuroscience laboratories, these workflows can support applications such as:

• isolation of EVs from cerebrospinal fluid or neuronal and glial cell cultures;
• investigation of EV-mediated communication between neurons, astrocytes, microglia and other CNS cell populations;
• EV biomarker studies in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders;
• characterisation of engineered EVs and nanoparticles for drug-delivery applications;
• measurement of nanoparticle size, concentration and zeta potential at the single-particle level.

Izon has specifically highlighted the challenges associated with extracellular-vesicle research in cerebrospinal fluid, while its TRPS-based technologies have been applied across biomedical EV research.

A major novelty is the Pulsoid, Izon Science's latest platform for high-resolution single-particle characterisation. Based on Nanopore Pulse Sensing, Pulsoid builds on Izon's established TRPS technology with a workflow designed to make precise nanoparticle analysis faster and easier to operate. Read more

Beyond academic research, Izon is also increasingly active in the translation of EV technologies towards biotech, diagnostics and therapeutic development. Its qEV PurePath workflows, for example, have been developed to support scalable and reproducible EV purification for therapeutic applications, including customised workflows developed together with EV-therapeutics customers. More recently, Izon joined the SMART CRC initiative focused on accelerating the development and manufacture of advanced regenerative therapies. Read more

The combination of Izon Science and Tomocube technologies addresses two increasingly important dimensions of neuroscience research.

With Izon, researchers can isolate extracellular vesicles and nanoparticles and obtain accurate physical characterisation at the single-particle level. With Tomocube, they can follow living cells and complex 3D models non-invasively and quantitatively over time.

Together, these technologies can contribute to experimental workflows spanning fundamental neuroscience, neuroinflammation, biomarker discovery, advanced cellular models, drug screening and translational research.