diff --git a/particle.py b/particle.py
index 909536b..e9e06cd 100644
--- a/particle.py
+++ b/particle.py
@@ -49,6 +49,19 @@ class Particles:
                 attr[key] = pp[col[key],:,0].squeeze()
         return cls(num,time,attr,period)
 
+    @classmethod
+    def from_mat(cls,file,select_col=None):
+        from .helper import load_mat
+        pp = load_mat(file,'pp',cast_integer=False) # int casting is expensive and useless on potentially large array
+        col,time,ccinfo = load_mat(file,['colpy','time','ccinfo'],cast_integer=True)
+        period = [None,None,None]
+        if bool(ccinfo['xperiodic']): period[0]=ccinfo['b']
+        if bool(ccinfo['yperiodic']): period[1]=ccinfo['d']
+        if bool(ccinfo['zperiodic']): period[2]=ccinfo['f']
+        for key in col:
+            col[key]-=1
+        return cls.from_array(pp,col,time,period,select_col=select_col)
+
     @classmethod
     def from_position(cls,x,y,z,time,period):
         assert x.ndim==1 and y.ndim==1 and z.ndim==1,\
@@ -608,4 +621,4 @@ def translate_circular(pp,col,translation,bounds,axis=0):
     L = bounds[2*axis+1]
     keys = ('x','y','z')
     pp[col[keys[axis]],:,:] = (pp[col[keys[axis]],:,:]+translation)%L
-    return pp
\ No newline at end of file
+    return pp