A quantum leap in 3D imaging & sensing
Venture deep with Double Helix Optics
Image credit: Garcea Lab, CU Boulder
Unlock instantaneous 3D imaging by engineering your microscope’s point spread function
Conventional microscopes have limits
How an optical system responds to a point source of light is typically described by a point spread function (PSF). The PSF is determined by several parameters, including transmission wavelength, numerical aperture, and uncorrected wavefront aberrations. The wave nature of light impacts the PSFs of conventional light microscopes, limiting their maximum achievable resolution to approximately 200 nm laterally and 500 nm axially. Furthermore, in these systems the PSF laterally spreads above and below the focal plane, leading to an inability to distinguish axial position information and blurring of 3D structures.
Transcend them by engineering the light
Double Helix Optics surpasses conventional light microscopy depth and resolution limits by transforming the PSF of your imaging system using specialized diffractive optical elements called phase masks. These phase masks are uniquely engineered and are small enough that they can be inserted into the optical path to selectively modify the phase of light at specific spatial frequencies.
Capture true 3D images
The new PSF, called an engineered point spread function (ePSF), stays in focus over an extended depth and contains 3D information encoded within its shape. Double Helix Optics’ ePSFs eliminate or strongly reduce the need for axial scanning by producing 3D data and images with individual frames that capture up to 20x the native depth of field of your microscope. On top of this, fast dynamic processes over a large volume can be accurately tracked.
Achieve precision to 15 nm in xyz
Double Helix Optics’ ePSFs unlock 3D super resolution, enabling up to an order of magnitude improved resolution compared with conventional light microscopy. While most methods used to acquire super-resolved images are inherently 2D in nature or result in comparatively poor resolution, our PSFs are engineered to produce coordinates with best-in-class precision that is similar in both axial and lateral directions.
Tune depth to maximize signal
Our ePSFs, realized in physical form as phase masks, are uniquely depth-tunable, allowing for maximized signal over background and minimized phototoxicity and bleaching. They can be used to efficiently image biological targets ranging from single molecules to whole cells and tissue, and are also suitable for inspection targets ranging from nanometer to millimeter in size.
Optimize masks to match your application
Our phase masks are optimized to match any objective lens numerical aperture and magnification, and for the full range of emission wavelengths from UV to near-IR. They are also compatible with label-free imaging targets.
Receive clean & comprehensive data
Because phase masks reshape point sources of light with ePSFs, raw images using our technology leverage computational methods to localize emitters and reconstruct images. Double Helix Optics has developed algorithms that work in parallel with our ePSFs to provide the highest quality images and output data for publication, machine learning, and customized analytics.
Image credit: Wang et al., CLF News (2022).
Use leading imaging modalities
Double Helix Optics’ technology is complementary to many illumination methods and imaging modalities, including STORM, PALM, PAINT, TIRF, HILO, light sheet, FRET, FISH, CLEM, brightfield, darkfield, ring, and more.