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PICS is a powerful analysis tool that resolves correlations on the nanometer length and millisecond timescale. Adapted from methods of spatio-temporal image correlation spectroscopy, it exploits the high positional accuracy of single-particle tracking. While conventional tracking methods break down if multiple particle trajectories intersect, this method works in principle for arbitrarily large molecule densities and dynamical parameters (e.g. diffusion coefficients, velocities) as long as individual molecules can be identified. It is computationally cheap and robust and allows one to identify and quantify motions (e.g. diffusion, active transport, confined diffusion) within an ensemble of particles, without any a priori knowledge about the dynamics.
A particle image cross-correlation spectroscopy (PICCS) extension is available for biological processes that involve multiple interaction partners, as can observed by two-color microscopy.