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21 February 2008
Looking at life without the lens
Source: Sheffield Star, 15 February 2008
A Sheffield University spinout has got a £600,000 boost to help it put Britain at the forefront in what could soon be a $1.6 billion market for high definition, 3-D microscopes.
Phasefocus was set up to capitalise on an invention by Professor John Rodenburg, from the University’s Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
Professor Rodenburg’s idea was to combine state-of-the-art digital video technology and sophisticated software to create a magnified, 3D image, eliminating the need for expensive, sophisticated lenses.
The invention has potential applications in optical, x-ray and electron microscopy and is now moving a step nearer to becoming a reality.
Biofusion, the AIM-listed Sheffield company, set up to commercialise university academics’ inventions, is pumping £400,000 into Phasefocus to help it build prototype microscopes. Meanwhile, the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, which provides funding for spinouts from Sheffield, Leeds, and York Universities is investing a further £200,000.
Phasefocus’s radical new technology eliminates the need for a lens in the microscope, dramatically reducing the cost and eliminating the distortions inherent in even the most sophisticated of modern microscopes.
The technology works by illuminating selected areas of a specimen, recording diffraction patterns and then processing the images using its sophisticated, proprietary software.
Scientists from Phasefocus, which is based at the University’s Kroto Innovation Centre, on Broad Lane, have already shown the technology works in both the optical and x-ray frequency ranges. And, they say that it is applicable to the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including radar, ultra-violet, infra-red, and terahertz imaging.
Phasefocus’s chief executive, Dr Ian Pykett, said, “We are pleased to have achieved this investment from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund and existing investors Biofusion.
“The funding will enable the development of our technology which will reduce instrument costs and dramatically improve microscopy.”
David Milroy, from Aberdeen Asset Managers, which manages the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, added: “We… believe the company’s ‘lens-less’ microscope technology could deliver substantial performance and cost benefits across virtually all forms of microscopy.
“We look forward to working with Dr Pykett’s team at Phasefocus.”
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