Products · Microscope attachments

PHI

The PHI is the ultimate plug-and-play adaptive optics platform for microscopy. PHI is Phaseform's solution for seamless integration of adaptive optics into any microscope via the microscope's camera port. It contains a Deformable Phase Plate (DPP) located at the microscope's pupil plane for precise aberration corrections. It additionally features an integrated tunable lens for ultra-fast remote focusing.

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PHI adaptive optics platform mounted on the camera port of an inverted microscope

Adaptive optics through the camera port

Plug-and-PlayAttaches to any standard C-mount camera port. Connect power and USB, and you're good to go!
ModularEasily insert or remove the DPP to switch between standard imaging and adaptive optics.
Adaptive OpticsCorrect up to the 7th radial order of Zernike modes. Automatically optimize image quality for thick, scattering tissue samples.
Motionless 3D FocusingIntegrated tunable lens at the conjugate pupil plane with up to 16 diopters of focusing range: a z-stack costs no stage motion, no settling time and no mechanical disturbance of the sample.
Future-proofWorks with current and upcoming DPPs: swap in the one that suits your application, without replacing the platform.
Stays on the portBetween experiments PHI runs in bypass at > 90 % average transmission, 450 to 1050 nm — it earns its place on the camera port whether or not you are correcting that day.

See what the PHI does

Results from partner labs: aberration the sample introduces, deliberate wavefront shaping, and single-molecule localization.

Correcting what the sample introduces

a wrong immersion medium — on a specimen, and on point sources — Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg

The same fluorocells after PHI corrected the induced spherical aberration — Fluorocells imaged through a deliberately wrong immersion medium (silicone oil instead of oil). PHI, running Phinden's automated routine, takes out the induced spherical aberration up to the 6th-order spherical Zernike term.ZEISS Axiovert 200M, Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

Fluorocells under the wrong immersion medium, uncorrected — Fluorocells imaged through a deliberately wrong immersion medium (silicone oil instead of oil). PHI, running Phinden's automated routine, takes out the induced spherical aberration up to the 6th-order spherical Zernike term.ZEISS Axiovert 200M, Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

The same field of fluorescent microspheres with PHI correcting: each bead resolves as a compact, bright sphere — Fluoresbrite® YG microspheres (0.50 µm) under a deliberately mismatched immersion — n = 1.566 instead of the n = 1.518 the objective is designed for. PHI corrects the induced spherical aberration and the higher-order modes up to 4th-order Zernike: the beads contract to compact spheres, the haze between them clears, and beads that had merged separate. ZEISS 40×/1.3 NA Oil. The marked spots a and b are the beads whose intensity profiles are plotted in the spec sheet.ZEISS Axiovert 200M, Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

Fluorescent microspheres imaged under a mismatched immersion, uncorrected: the beads blur into dim, haloed blobs — Fluoresbrite® YG microspheres (0.50 µm) under a deliberately mismatched immersion — n = 1.566 instead of the n = 1.518 the objective is designed for. PHI corrects the induced spherical aberration and the higher-order modes up to 4th-order Zernike: the beads contract to compact spheres, the haze between them clears, and beads that had merged separate. ZEISS 40×/1.3 NA Oil. The marked spots a and b are the beads whose intensity profiles are plotted in the spec sheet.ZEISS Axiovert 200M, Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

Driving the wavefront on purpose — PSF shaping

scanning astigmatism, and refocusing without moving the objective

Experimental demonstration of PSF shaping by scanning through astigmatism on 200 nm beads.

Navicula lyra diatom imaged in a single focal plane: the pore rows are only partly resolved — *Navicula lyra*, 100× oil objective. Left is one focal plane; right is a projection through a z-stack acquired with PHI's tunable lens: ~14 nm axial steps over ~3.4 µm of depth. The tunable lens sits at the conjugate pupil plane, so refocusing is electrical: the objective never moves. Scale bar 10 µm.ZEISS Axiovert 200M, Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

The same diatom as a 3D projection from a z-stack acquired with the tunable lens: the pore rows are resolved across the whole frustule — *Navicula lyra*, 100× oil objective. Left is one focal plane; right is a projection through a z-stack acquired with PHI's tunable lens: ~14 nm axial steps over ~3.4 µm of depth. The tunable lens sits at the conjugate pupil plane, so refocusing is electrical: the objective never moves. Scale bar 10 µm.ZEISS Axiovert 200M, Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

Single-molecule localization

the run and the PSF underneath it — TU Wien, Biophysics Research Unit

The same sample with PHI correcting the aberration during acquisition — Mobile ATTO488-DOPE in a supported lipid bilayer under TIRF illumination, ZEISS Plan-Apochromat 100×/1.46. PHI corrects the sample-induced aberration while the localization run is acquiring.TU Wien, Institute of Applied Physics, Biophysics Research Unit. Courtesy of Prof. Gerhard Schütz and Dr. Mario Brameshuber.

Measured 2D point-spread function, aberrated: elongated and tilted — The measured 2D point-spread function from the same single-molecule setup, both panels on the same scale. Localization accuracy depends on PSF symmetry: the aberrated PSF is elongated and tilted, the corrected one is round.TU Wien, Institute of Applied Physics, Biophysics Research Unit. Courtesy of Prof. Gerhard Schütz and Dr. Mario Brameshuber.

The corrected point-spread function, symmetric about its centre — The measured 2D point-spread function from the same single-molecule setup, both panels on the same scale. Localization accuracy depends on PSF symmetry: the aberrated PSF is elongated and tilted, the corrected one is round.TU Wien, Institute of Applied Physics, Biophysics Research Unit. Courtesy of Prof. Gerhard Schütz and Dr. Mario Brameshuber.

Thick tissue

the hardest case — aberration the sample itself introduces, varying across the field

The same kidney field after PHI corrected the aberrations the tissue introduces: nuclei separate into individual bodies and the tubule walls come up crisp — Kidney slice, EGFP + DsRed + DAPI, ZEISS 40×/0.95 air Plan-Apochromat. Tissue aberrates the image as well as defocusing it, and the aberration varies with the sample — so there is no one correction to dial in. Here PHI measures and corrects what the sample itself introduces, on top of the system correction: nuclei that ran together separate, and the tubule walls come up out of the veil. Raw frames, no deconvolution. The field is 159 µm across.Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

Kidney slice under the system correction alone, with the aberrations the tissue introduces left uncorrected: nuclei blur together and the tubule walls are veiled — Kidney slice, EGFP + DsRed + DAPI, ZEISS 40×/0.95 air Plan-Apochromat. Tissue aberrates the image as well as defocusing it, and the aberration varies with the sample — so there is no one correction to dial in. Here PHI measures and corrects what the sample itself introduces, on top of the system correction: nuclei that ran together separate, and the tubule walls come up out of the veil. Raw frames, no deconvolution. The field is 159 µm across.Life Imaging Center, University of Freiburg. Courtesy of Dr. Roland Nitschke.

Specifications

PHI at a glance

What it attaches to and what the camera port has to carry, what it does to the wavefront, what it needs to run — and, at the end, whether your own objective's pupil lands inside the window. The complete datasheet is in Downloads.

Compatibility

Microscope	Mounts onto any standard C-mount port of upright or inverted microscope frames Chain multiple C-mount devices: confocal & spinning-disk modules, structured illumination, etc.
Objective lens	Covers objectives with pupil diameters from 5 mm to 20 mm 5–11 mm using the Delta 7-10 · 11–20 mm using the Delta 7-20
Camera	C-mount cameras supported F-mount version in preparation
Software	µManager, ScanImage, ThorImage, ZEN blue or the Python SDK Nikon NIS-Elements integration in preparation
Overall envelope (W × D × H)	367.5 × 230.4 × 132 mm
Camera port (in)	C-mount female (internal thread)
Camera port (out)	C-mount male (external thread)
Weight	8.3 kg

Performance

Adaptive optics

Maximum peak-to-valley of the corrected wavefronts: > 10 µm
Maximum spatial frequency of the correction: 7th radial order of Zernike modes
Response time < 40 ms

Remote focusing

Tuning range up to 16 dpt
Tuning precision 0.001 dpt
Response time 3 ms

Optical transmission

AO & remote-focusing mode ~ 75 % average, 450–1050 nm
Bypass mode > 90 % average, 450–1050 nm

General

Power & connectivity 12 V wall power, USB to PC
Main applications spherical-aberration correction, deep-tissue imaging, remote focusing, 3D imaging

Mechanical envelope

The DPP exchange slot on the side panel and the insertable pinhole on the output side stay reachable while the unit is mounted: swap the Delta 7 without taking PHI off the microscope.

PHI hardware: camera release lever and DPP and camera adjustment nubs

Camera release lever · DPP & camera adjustment nubs.

Mechanical drawing of PHI in three views with dimensions in millimetres: 367.5 wide, 230.4 deep and 132 high, with the C-mount male output, C-mount female input, DPP insertion slot and insertable pinhole called out

All dimensions in millimetres.

Objective lens

Mag	4×	10×	20×	25×	40×	63×	100×
Min NA	0.2compatible	0.25compatible	0.4compatible	0.7compatible	0.8compatible	1.2compatible	1.25significantly reduced performance
Max NA	0.28significantly reduced performance	0.45compatible	0.75compatible	1.1compatible	1.3compatible	1.45compatible	1.45compatible

CompatibleSignificantly reduced performanceSwipe the table to see every magnification.

Typical NA range each magnification is sold in, against PHI's 5–20 mm pupil window at a 200 mm tube lens; Olympus (180 mm) and ZEISS (165 mm) frames shift the result. Spec sheet (PDF)

D_pupil ≃ 2 · (f_tube / M) · NA f_tube tube-lens focal length: 200 mm on most frames, 180 mm Olympus, 165 mm ZEISS · M magnification · NA numerical aperture

Software

Phinden comes standard

PHI comes standard with Phinden, Phaseform's turnkey software package that incorporates an intuitive graphical user interface for sensorless, image-based adaptive optics (AO) microscopy.

Discover Phinden

Partners & users

Who PHI was built with, and where it runs

Co-developed with

Imaging-solutions start-up from Hard, Austria, and co-developer of PHI: turning insights from science into streamlined imaging products and tailored prototypes.

akrima.at

In use at

PHI mounted on an OpenFrame modular microscope on an optical table, with the control laptop beside it — A C-mount port is the whole requirement, so PHI runs on a modular open-hardware frame as it does on a commercial one: same correction, same software, same workflow.OpenFrame microscope, UltimEyes GmbH.

Integration

It fits the microscope you already have

PHI is a C-mount pass-through between the camera port and the camera. The frame stays, the camera keeps its mount, the acquisition software stays as it is. PHI adds a stage to the camera path without displacing anything already on it.

The rest of the port ecosystem chains with it, ahead of PHI or behind: spinning-disk confocal and structured-illumination modules, image splitters, filter wheels, magnification changers, couplers and relays. Two DPP variants cover objective pupils from 5 to 20 mm (10× through 63× on a standard frame); the spec sheet has the full lookup.

Send us the frame, the objective and what is already on the port, and we will confirm the configuration before you order.

Check your setup →

Downloads

PHISpec sheet↓ Refractive Adaptive Optics for MicroscopyApplication note↓ The Deformable Phase Plate TechnologyWhite paper↓

Specifications Request a quotation

PHI