Double Helix Optics

Double Helix Optics is an electronics company that creates microscope accessories to enable traditional optical microscopes that use super-resolution imaging to image in true 3D. Their accessory, the Spindle, can be added to any microscope, between the viewing eye and the optical path, and when paired with their 3D Trax software, images from the microscope are given depth that is not traditionally possible. The image created by the 3D Trax software is accurate down to 15nm in all directions, giving the image various colors depending on height, all while being in real-time. This allows for vastly improved imaging and researching of things like biological structures such as proteins, without the need for additional manipulation such as filters and dyes.

Overview of the Sector:

The super-resolution imaging industry has been around for about 20 years and has made vast improvements to technologies in a variety of fields. The premise of the technology is that the process of super-resolution negates the typical difficulties surrounding the diffraction of light during imaging processes. Being able to get around this roadblock in imaging has allowed for improved computer vision and biomedical research. This technology can be very powerful, although it is limited in the fact that images produced by this technique are exclusively in two dimensions, and while super-resolution imaging has brought these industries far in the past 20 years, there has been a need for 3D imaging techniques that will still bring the same precision and utility as super-resolution images.

Challenges and Opportunities:

One of the major difficulties for Double Helix in this market is competing 3D super-resolution imaging techniques. One example of a competitor is Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM). STORM uses an iterative process to excite molecules using light and use their light emission to pinpoint their location in the image. While this can be a potentially successful technique, it has extreme limitations. STORM assumes many things about the specimen being imaged, including that it is an excitable molecule, it is not changing, and that there is time to use this lengthy process. These are areas where Double Helix Optics and their Spindle product thrive, as their products image in live time while mapping the object that is being viewed. As a bonus, Spindle can be combined with other imaging techniques, like STORM, to create an ultra-specialized image mapped in 3D.

Our Insights:

The 3D super-resolution imaging sector is where Double Helix Optics has been thriving, with innovations in the software and hardware behind 3D imaging. By creating specialty phase masks, a type of specialized filter, the point spread function of a given microscope, a measure of diffraction of light at a single point, can be manipulated to create 3D images. What makes these phase masks even more special is their ability to be tuned to a desired light emission wavelength. Depending on their desired application, the phase masks can be tuned to capture wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared. This means that a wide range of research can be conducted using their products. They have also successfully manufactured this technology into a versatile product, that is compatible with every microscope, and easy to use. Just by inserting the Spindle into the optical path of the microscope and using their software, one can create 3D images. Further, the Spindle comes with multiple phase masks, so if one does not fit a project, the researcher can simply change to a different one. This versatility and ease give them a huge step up on competitors. As it currently stands, the company is still small but thriving. This gives the company huge lateral mobility, which they have been making full use of, in terms of marketing, product development, and research. Recently, the company has developed the Spindle 2, attended multiple research and development conferences such as Photonics West 2024, and has been promoting how their technology is being used in research on their webpage. While this company is young and is still in Series A funding, they have huge potential to grow to a larger market with the right promotion to their market and possibly additional funding.

Conclusion:

While Double Helix Optics is part of a small market of imaging technology, they own a monster share of their desired audience, with innovative and unique solutions to a long-standing problem. As a small company with lots of room to grow, they are ready to take off with the help of additional market share and capital. Their intelligent group of researchers has what it takes to create an innovative, sleek, and hyper-useful product in the world of biological research and development.

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