£600k Investment to Revolutionise Microscopy

A University of Sheffield spin-out company has received £600,000 of investment to demonstrate and build prototype microscopes that could revolutionise the optical, X-ray and electron microscopy market. Phase Focus'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.

White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, which provides funding for spin-out companies from the universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield, has invested £200,000 in Phase Focus with existing investor Biofusion, the Aim listed university IP commercialisation company, investing £400,000.

Phase Focus was formed by Biofusion in 2006 on the back of Professor John Rodenburg's invention born out of the University of Sheffield's Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. The revolutionary technology works by illuminating selected areas of a specimen, recording the diffraction patterns and then processing the resultant images using Phase Focus's sophisticated and proprietary software.

Potential applications for the Phase Focus technology lie within the optical, x-ray and electron microscopy markets, which are forecast to grow to US$1.6 billion by 2009. The technology has already been demonstrated in both the optical and x-ray frequency ranges and, in principle, is applicable to the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including radar, ultra-violet, infra-red, and terahertz imaging.

Ian Pykett, Phase Focus CEO, says, “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.”

Says David Milroy of Aberdeen Asset Managers, which manages the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, “We are delighted to be involved in the development of Phase Focus and believe the company's “lensless” 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 Phase Focus.”