FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

About the technology

New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. Instead of the conventional commercial resolution targets, researchers and microscopists must often make custom resolution targets in their own lab, which work on only a small subset of microscopes.

We present Fiber Resolution Targets (FiRsT): all-in-one calibration targets for resolution, refractive index contrast, polarisation, and spectral signatures.

Advantages

  • Calibrate a wide range of optical micro- and nanoscopes
  • Broad range of RIC (1.3 – 2.2)
  • Scalable resolution (10 nm – 100 µm)
  • Customizable fiber orientation, patterns, and composition
  • Artifact detection

Applications

Characterization, calibration and troubleshooting for all optical microscopes during manufacture and throughout the life of the instrument.

Image: FiRsT conformation examples

Additional features

Can be made with inorganic, organic and biological additives for use with correlative and multimodal nano/microscopes. For example, fluorescent markers, magnetic markers, carbon nanotubes, DNA, and more.

Opportunities for collaboration

We are seeking partners for collaboration and licensing. We are open to working together to develop our product to accomodate your needs.

Partners

Universitetet i Tromsø
image (5)

Contact information

Foto: Marius Fiskum

Bronwyn Smithies

Forretningsutvikler | Tech Transfer

bronwyn@norinnova.no
Tlf. 412 47 420

Les om andre prosjekter:

mSpider

•
16. november 2023

Motivating continous Sharing of Physical activity using non-Intrusive Data Extraction methods Retro- and prospectively About the technology Data collection of physical data …

Thyroid Assist

•
8. november 2023

– A novel decision support aid tool (DST) for optimal levothyroxine dosage after thyroidectomy About the technology Levothyroxine is a necessary synthetic …

, ,

FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

•
8. november 2023

About the technology New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. …

,

Nanospacer

•
30. oktober 2023

– Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people About the technology The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle …

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SPICE: Sea sPray ICE prediction model

•
11. august 2023

A tool that predicts ice amount and distribution on marine structures About the technology Due to climate changes the Arctic marine territories …

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Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

•
9. august 2023

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay About the technology Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells …

, ,

Nanospacer

- Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people

About the technology

The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle characterisation. Nanofluidic technology, including analysis of proteins and binding events on a single-molecule level, will open doors to the next generation of nanomedicines, nanoparticles and nanomachinery.

Resources

  • Research Council Norway commercialisation grant
  • Patent pending
  • Prototypes ready for end-user testing
  • Norinnova as commercialisation partner

Value proposition

  • Simple to use
  • Broad application range
  • Affordable
  • Compatible with existing microscopes and workflows
Range of applications for the Nanospacer in life sciences and fluidic analytics

Image: Areas of applications

(1) drug screening

(2) exosome analysis

(3) nanofluidic cell cultures

(4) fertility testing

Opportunities for Collaboration

We are looking for end-users to test our Nanospacer concept. We are open to collaborate to ensure the Nanospacer meets your specific needs.

Partners

Universitetet i Tromsø

Inventor: Oliver Vanderpoorten

  • MSCA Fellow, Tromsø (NOR), EPSRC PhD in BioEng, Cambridge (UK), Background: electrical engineering, nanotechnology

Contact information

Thomas Seppola, Norinnova. Foto: Marius Fiskum

Magnus Seppola

Forretningsutvikler | Tech Transfer

magnus@norinnova.no
Tlf. 951 12 385

Les om andre prosjekter:

mSpider

•
16. november 2023

Motivating continous Sharing of Physical activity using non-Intrusive Data Extraction methods Retro- and prospectively About the technology Data collection of physical data …

Thyroid Assist

•
8. november 2023

– A novel decision support aid tool (DST) for optimal levothyroxine dosage after thyroidectomy About the technology Levothyroxine is a necessary synthetic …

, ,

FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

•
8. november 2023

About the technology New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. …

,

Nanospacer

•
30. oktober 2023

– Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people About the technology The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle …

, , ,

SPICE: Sea sPray ICE prediction model

•
11. august 2023

A tool that predicts ice amount and distribution on marine structures About the technology Due to climate changes the Arctic marine territories …

,

Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

•
9. august 2023

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay About the technology Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells …

, ,

Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay

About the technology

Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells in action and how they smartly tackle obstacles in our body. Cell movement or motility governs how cells migrate, invade, repair injuries, and develop tissues and organs. These processes are critical for a healthy, functioning body. Cell plasticity, in the form of individual or collective cell migration, has long-standing consequences and can help identify diseases and how much they have progressed. In the Cymoplive platform, cells are placed in a 3D maze where they need to overcome designed obstacles as they move through the maze. Cymoplive has a live-imaging friendly format compatible with all optical microscopes. The complexity of the maze can be customized based on the experimental setup and what is to be studied.

Value proposition

  • Live-imaging of process
  • Intelligence of cell movement can be studied
  • Mimics tissue environment with the 3D patterned obstacles matrix
  • Customisable physical environment
  • Customisable chemical environment
Image: Cymoplive is a unique cell migration assay platform that contains 3D obstacles in a solid hydrogel environment to study cell motility in a physiologically and functionally relevant environment.

Resources and partners

  • UiT Nanoscopy group
  • EU H2020-funded FET-Open RIA project OrganVision (EIC Pathfinder)
  • Proof of concept in a small-scale lab setting has been demonstrated
  • Patent application filed

Opportunities for Collaboration

We are currently looking for industry partners or potential users who finds interest in our technology. We are open for working together on the development of Cymoplive to accommodate your needs.

Image: The image shows how embryonic fibroblast cells are moving in the maze by changing their direction as they encounter obstacles on their path from high cell density to a low cell density region. In phase microscope, the morphological features of the cells can be observed and evaluated labelfree. In fluorescence microscopy, the molecular changes due to cells’ motility in the maze can be measured. Here we see how the actin cytoskeleton is modified to maneuver cells along the maze path.

Collaboration partners

Universitetet i Tromsø

Contact information

Foto: Marius Fiskum

Ingrid Skjæveland

Forretningsutvikler | Tech Transfer

ingrid@norinnova.no
Tlf. 991 57 143

Les om andre prosjekter:

mSpider

•
16. november 2023

Motivating continous Sharing of Physical activity using non-Intrusive Data Extraction methods Retro- and prospectively About the technology Data collection of physical data …

Thyroid Assist

•
8. november 2023

– A novel decision support aid tool (DST) for optimal levothyroxine dosage after thyroidectomy About the technology Levothyroxine is a necessary synthetic …

, ,

FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

•
8. november 2023

About the technology New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. …

,

Nanospacer

•
30. oktober 2023

– Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people About the technology The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle …

, , ,

SPICE: Sea sPray ICE prediction model

•
11. august 2023

A tool that predicts ice amount and distribution on marine structures About the technology Due to climate changes the Arctic marine territories …

,

Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

•
9. august 2023

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay About the technology Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells …

, ,

Single-objective light-sheet imaging system (SOLIS)

Instant volume microscopy

The SOLIS Microscope

A new type of fluorescence microscope that combines the best aspects of confocal with light-sheet microscopy. SOLIS efficiently removes parasitic light from out-of-focus planes that would bleed through between adjacent focal planes and degrade image contrast. 

SOLIS is posed to fill this technology gap between methods that offer the required speed and gentleness on the one hand, and usability and resolution on the other. A prototype has been successfully demonstrated and the technology has patent pending.

 

Value proposition

Being able to observe these tiny, yet fast, cell constituents in their natural environment would provide completely new insights into cellular function and potential starting points for cures of a whole range of diseases.

Opportunities for Collaboration

  • We are currently looking for commercial partners for licensing of the technology. 
Illustration of the SOLIS microscope. (a) Depicted in purple is the scanned oblique light-sheet path; green is the detection path over a multi-plane optical element onto a synchronised rolling shutter camera that consolidates the light paths through the sample volume, instantly producing a high-resolution volumetric image without parasitic light. (b) Conventional widefield and SOLIS images of mitochondria within human heart tissue. Virtually all parasitic out-of-focus light is removed by SOLIS and all z-planes were acquired simultaneously within 100 ms. Depth is colour coded.
Collaborators
Universitetet i Tromsø

Contact information

Foto: Marius Fiskum

Lars Sørensen

Forretningsutvikler | Tech Transfer

lars@norinnova.no
Tlf. 942 45 511

Les om andre prosjekter:

mSpider

•
16. november 2023

Motivating continous Sharing of Physical activity using non-Intrusive Data Extraction methods Retro- and prospectively About the technology Data collection of physical data …

Thyroid Assist

•
8. november 2023

– A novel decision support aid tool (DST) for optimal levothyroxine dosage after thyroidectomy About the technology Levothyroxine is a necessary synthetic …

, ,

FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

•
8. november 2023

About the technology New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. …

,

Nanospacer

•
30. oktober 2023

– Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people About the technology The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle …

, , ,

SPICE: Sea sPray ICE prediction model

•
11. august 2023

A tool that predicts ice amount and distribution on marine structures About the technology Due to climate changes the Arctic marine territories …

,

Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

•
9. august 2023

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay About the technology Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells …

, ,

MUSICAL – Multiple Signal Classification Algorithms

- Multi-option distributed computing solutions for super-resolution imaging

The MUSICAL technology

MUSICAL is an imaging software that makes super-resolution optical microscopy available to specialized labs and clinics as a high-end premium GPU or embedded solution, or to laymans with their own personal microscopy data through an budget-conscious cloud solution.

The technology can be applied to both super-resolution microscopy raw data as well as data generated by conventional low-cost microscopes. The key advantage it provides is not needing any calibration in illumination engineered microscopes or special dyes for achieving super-resolution.

MUSICAL processing method to exploit the high spatial frequencies of illumination pattern to generate super-resolved image. In other words, processing super-resolution images from microscopes at an immense speed.

The MUSICAL solutions

  • Cloud solution (Beta-stage)

Lightweight software for super-resolution imaging tailored to low-cost microscopes.

  • GPU solution (under development)

Plug-and-play dongle providing state-of-the-art imaging with an additional edge in processing time

  • Embedded solution (to be developed)

MUSICAL as a built-in hardware solution with the microscope. Unlocking it’s full imaging capabilities

Opportunities for collaboration

  • Licensees for MUSICAL cloud solution
  • Collaborative R&D with industrial partner for MUSICAL GPU or MUSICAL Embedded solution
  • Patent pending
As compared to diffraction-limited image on the left, MUSICAL reconstructs the cristae (i.e., the empty spaces between the outer and inner membranes of mitochondria) with amazing number of details using only 100 images of diffraction-limited video.

Collaboration partners

Universitetet i Tromsø

Contact information

Foto: Marius Fiskum

Lars Sørensen

Forretningsutvikler | Tech Transfer

lars@norinnova.no
Tlf. 942 45 511

Les om andre prosjekter:

mSpider

•
16. november 2023

Motivating continous Sharing of Physical activity using non-Intrusive Data Extraction methods Retro- and prospectively About the technology Data collection of physical data …

Thyroid Assist

•
8. november 2023

– A novel decision support aid tool (DST) for optimal levothyroxine dosage after thyroidectomy About the technology Levothyroxine is a necessary synthetic …

, ,

FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

•
8. november 2023

About the technology New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. …

,

Nanospacer

•
30. oktober 2023

– Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people About the technology The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle …

, , ,

SPICE: Sea sPray ICE prediction model

•
11. august 2023

A tool that predicts ice amount and distribution on marine structures About the technology Due to climate changes the Arctic marine territories …

,

Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

•
9. august 2023

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay About the technology Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells …

, ,

Spermotile – A sophisticated tool for improved fertilization success rate

Sperm filtration for improved success rate of assisted reproduction technology

About the technology

With current automated or manual IVF methods focusing on motility, the chance of identifying a sperm for fertilization is high, but the likelihood of the selected sperm being the best is small. This means an inaccurate quality analysis that takes a toll on success rate and asks for multiple fertilization attempts.

Spermotile solves this issue by an ‘all-rounder’ sperm selection criterion that is morphologically healthy, motile and demonstrates desirable dynamic behavior, enabling that the sperms picked are of indeed high quality and highly likely to result into success in the first attempt. In turn, it translated to better throughput and leaner operating costs.

Value proposition

The spermotile is an end-to-end solution for selecting the best sperm automatically in terms of motility, morphology and behavior and performing the fertilization process with improved accuracy, efficiency, and success rate, while simultaneously providing a low-cost, ready to use, and low training option for the end user. Patent pending.

Opportunities for collaboration

  • Development and testing of Spermotile
  • Pilot-testing with customers
Illustrated comparison between Spermotile and current solutions’ processing of filtering dead, non-progressive, and haphazard semen to isolate the best quality sperm. Current CASA solutions use phase contrast microscopy (PCM) to identify and analyse sperm, restricting analysis of advanced sperm motility.

Collaborators

Universitetet i Tromsø

Contact information

Foto: Marius Fiskum

Lars Sørensen

Forretningsutvikler | Tech Transfer

lars@norinnova.no
Tlf. 942 45 511

Les om andre prosjekter:

mSpider

•
16. november 2023

Motivating continous Sharing of Physical activity using non-Intrusive Data Extraction methods Retro- and prospectively About the technology Data collection of physical data …

Thyroid Assist

•
8. november 2023

– A novel decision support aid tool (DST) for optimal levothyroxine dosage after thyroidectomy About the technology Levothyroxine is a necessary synthetic …

, ,

FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

•
8. november 2023

About the technology New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. …

,

Nanospacer

•
30. oktober 2023

– Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people About the technology The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle …

, , ,

SPICE: Sea sPray ICE prediction model

•
11. august 2023

A tool that predicts ice amount and distribution on marine structures About the technology Due to climate changes the Arctic marine territories …

,

Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

•
9. august 2023

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay About the technology Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells …

, ,

Tau-on-Chip: nanofluidic amyloid aggregation within seconds

About the technology

On-demand production of protein aggregates: We produce oligomers and fibrils within seconds in a nanofluidic environment. This has potential for high throughput screening of drug candidates, automated in-vitro assays, and binding assays with single molecule sensitivity.

Areas of application

We envisage producing the nanofluidic Tau-on- Chip devices for use in drug development, clinical trials, research, and protein production.

Value proposition

  • Single molecule sensitivity.
  • For use in drug development, clinical trials, research, and protein production.
  • Patent pending.
 
Bilde microfluidic
Image: Microfluidic chips fabricated on glass slides.
Image: Induced fibrillation and oligomerization events in seconds.

Opportunities for Collaboration

We are looking for industry partners for collaboration and licensing. We are open to working together on the development of our Tau-on-Chip technology to accomodate your needs.

Resources and partners

Universitetet i Tromsø

The inventors:

Oliver Vanderpoorten

  • MSCA Fellow, Tromsø (NOR), EPSRC PhD in BioEng, Cambridge (UK), Background: electrical engineering, nanotechnology

Kevin Baumann

  • SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellow, Basel (CH), PhD in Chemistry, Cambridge (UK), Background: biophysics, medical engineering

Contact information

Foto: Marius Fiskum

Ellen Dybdahl

Business developer

ellen@norinnova.no
Tlf. 974 79 260

Les om andre prosjekter:

mSpider

•
16. november 2023

Motivating continous Sharing of Physical activity using non-Intrusive Data Extraction methods Retro- and prospectively About the technology Data collection of physical data …

Thyroid Assist

•
8. november 2023

– A novel decision support aid tool (DST) for optimal levothyroxine dosage after thyroidectomy About the technology Levothyroxine is a necessary synthetic …

, ,

FiRsT – Optical microscope calibration targets

•
8. november 2023

About the technology New and advanced label-free and super resolution microscopes and nanoscopes have emerged, and their characterization is becoming more demanding. …

,

Nanospacer

•
30. oktober 2023

– Bringing nanofluidic technology to the people About the technology The Nanospacer is a specially designed microscope coverslip that allows nanoscale particle …

, , ,

SPICE: Sea sPray ICE prediction model

•
11. august 2023

A tool that predicts ice amount and distribution on marine structures About the technology Due to climate changes the Arctic marine territories …

,

Novel platform for live-imaging of cells in action

•
9. august 2023

CYMOPLIVE – Cyto-Motility and Cyto-Plasticity in Vitro Live-Cell Assay About the technology Cymoplive is a platform that allows us to study cells …

, ,