Axoft Introduces Fleuron WISE Elastomer to Enable High-Resolution Imaging in Aqueous Environments
Axoft, a neurotechnology company developing advanced materials and technologies for applications at the intersection of biology and electronics, has announced the introduction of Fleuron® Water Invisible Soft Elastomer (WISE), the newest addition to its advanced polymer materials portfolio.
WISE is a UV-curable elastomer engineered specifically for applications in which optical performance is affected by the interaction between a material and water. By matching the refractive index of water, the material is designed to become optically difficult to distinguish from its surrounding aqueous environment when submerged. This property can significantly reduce optical aberrations and potentially improve the sharpness and resolution of images captured from biological samples in water-based environments.
The new material is intended for researchers, biopharmaceutical companies, medical device developers and other organizations developing advanced imaging technologies for biological systems. Its combination of optical clarity, flexibility, softness, water impermeability and manufacturing versatility is designed to support applications ranging from high-resolution microscopy to microstructured optical devices.
Axoft is making Fleuron WISE commercially available in both liquid and sheet formats. The liquid formulation can be cured into customized shapes, while the sheets are available in specified thicknesses. The material can also be cast into molds to produce structures at the micron scale, providing manufacturers and researchers with flexibility when designing optical components and specialized imaging platforms.
Addressing Optical Challenges in Biological Imaging
High-resolution biological imaging often requires researchers to visualize structures in environments that closely resemble their natural biological conditions. Because many biological samples are maintained in aqueous solutions, the optical properties of materials used in imaging systems can have a major impact on image quality.
One of the challenges is refractive-index mismatch.
When light passes between materials with different refractive indices, it can bend or scatter in ways that introduce optical distortion. In high-resolution imaging, even relatively small mismatches can produce aberrations that reduce image clarity and make it more difficult to resolve fine biological structures.
Fleuron WISE has been engineered to address this challenge by closely matching the refractive index of water. When submerged, the material is designed to effectively “disappear” optically, reducing the interface between the material and surrounding water.
This characteristic is particularly relevant to advanced microscopy and imaging systems that require accurate visualization of structures within cells, tissues or other biological samples.
Axoft co-founder and CEO Dr. Paul Le Floch said WISE was developed for advanced biological imaging applications where small refractive-index differences can negatively affect image quality.
The company believes the material can provide a combination of optical clarity and physical properties that may be useful for biopharmaceutical and medical device companies as well as academic and research institutions developing next-generation imaging technologies.
Combining Optical and Mechanical Performance
Beyond its optical properties, WISE has been developed to combine multiple characteristics that can be difficult to achieve simultaneously in soft materials.
The elastomer is designed to be extremely soft and flexible while remaining impermeable to water. This combination may make it useful in applications where materials must conform to complex geometries or interface with delicate biological environments.
WISE is also described as biocompatible and capable of ultra-low small-molecule sorption and low water permeability. These characteristics can be important in biological applications because materials may come into contact with sensitive samples, cells or biological fluids.
The material is also compatible with harsh solvents, providing additional flexibility for manufacturing and processing workflows.
Another feature is its ability to be molded with micron-scale resolution. This allows manufacturers to create small and complex structures that may be difficult to produce using conventional elastomers.
The ability to combine optical performance with precision manufacturing could expand the potential uses of WISE in microstructured imaging systems and other biological devices.
Supporting Advanced Microscopy
WISE was developed through an ongoing collaboration between Axoft and the Shroff Lab at Janelia Research Campus, whose research includes visible-light super-resolution imaging.
Super-resolution microscopy seeks to overcome limitations associated with conventional optical imaging and enable researchers to observe structures at much finer scales. Such technologies can be particularly valuable for studying cellular organization and biological processes.
The work of the Shroff Lab includes efforts to visualize structures inside cells using advanced optical imaging approaches. These applications can place stringent demands on optical materials because image quality must be maintained even when imaging through complex aqueous environments.
The development of WISE through this collaboration reflects Axoft’s effort to address practical materials challenges associated with next-generation biological imaging.
According to the company, the simultaneous optimization of optical, mechanical and manufacturing properties is intended to overcome tradeoffs that have historically limited the use of soft materials in high-resolution imaging applications.
Versatile Manufacturing Formats
Fleuron WISE is commercially available in two primary formats: liquid and sheets.
The liquid material can be cured into virtually any desired shape, providing researchers and manufacturers with flexibility in prototyping and device development. It can also be cast into molds, enabling the creation of custom structures and components.
The sheet format provides a more standardized material option for applications requiring specific thicknesses.
This flexibility could be useful for organizations working at different stages of technology development. Researchers developing experimental imaging systems may benefit from the ability to cast custom geometries, while device manufacturers may prefer predefined sheet formats for repeatable fabrication.
The ability to produce micron-scale structures could also enable the integration of WISE into increasingly miniaturized imaging and microdevice platforms.
Additional Material Properties
Axoft highlights several properties of WISE that extend beyond its optical characteristics.
The material is designed to offer:
- Biocompatibility, supporting potential use in biological and medical research environments.
- Ultra-low small-molecule sorption, which may help minimize unwanted interactions between the material and surrounding compounds.
- Low water permeability, supporting stability in aqueous environments.
- Compatibility with harsh solvents, providing flexibility during processing and fabrication.
- Micron-resolution moldability, enabling the production of small and complex structures.
- Selective oxygen and carbon dioxide permeability, which may be useful in applications requiring controlled gas exchange.
The combination of these properties gives WISE potential applications beyond conventional imaging interfaces.
For example, researchers working with living biological samples may require materials that maintain optical clarity while also providing mechanical flexibility and controlled interactions with the surrounding environment.
Expanding Axoft’s Fleuron Materials Portfolio
WISE builds on Axoft’s broader Fleuron materials platform.
The company formally launched its Fleuron-based materials portfolio in the previous year following an exclusive license agreement with Stanford University. Axoft has subsequently applied customized Fleuron formulations to its implantable Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) devices.
In those applications, the company’s materials are intended to support long-term compatibility between implanted electronics and biological tissue.
Axoft says its Fleuron-based materials have contributed to the development of BCI devices designed to achieve high biocompatibility, long-term signal stability and high-bandwidth communication between neural tissue and electronic systems.
The addition of WISE demonstrates the broader versatility of the Fleuron materials platform.
While some applications focus on the interface between electronic devices and biological tissue, WISE is being developed specifically for optical applications in aqueous environments.
The company also offers Fleuron materials for microfluidics and organ-on-chip systems, expanding the portfolio into additional areas of biological research and laboratory technology.
These applications build on Axoft’s ongoing collaboration with Kayaku Advanced Materials.
Potential Applications in Biopharmaceutical and Medical Device Development
The ability to produce high-resolution optical components from soft, biocompatible materials could have implications for a variety of research and development applications.
Biopharmaceutical companies increasingly rely on advanced imaging to study cells, tissues, disease mechanisms and therapeutic responses. Imaging systems capable of providing clearer visualization of biological structures may support research across drug discovery and development.
Medical device developers may also benefit from materials that can be incorporated into optical interfaces, microstructured components or specialized imaging systems.
Academic laboratories and research institutions represent another potential user group, particularly those working in cellular biology, neuroscience, microscopy and bioengineering.
WISE’s ability to be customized and molded could allow researchers to develop specialized prototypes without being restricted to conventional material geometries.
Importance of Material Integration in Next-Generation Imaging
As biological imaging technologies become more sophisticated, materials engineering is increasingly important to overall system performance.
Improvements in microscopy hardware, illumination systems and image-processing algorithms can only deliver their full potential if optical interfaces and surrounding materials preserve image quality.
Material-related aberrations can become increasingly significant as researchers attempt to resolve smaller biological structures.
By engineering an elastomer specifically to match the optical properties of water, Axoft is targeting one of the fundamental physical challenges associated with imaging biological samples in aqueous environments.
At the same time, maintaining softness and flexibility may enable the material to be integrated into systems where rigid optical components are unsuitable.
This combination could be particularly relevant to applications involving living specimens or flexible microdevices.
Upcoming Presentation at Materials Research Society Meeting
Axoft plans to present additional results related to Fleuron WISE at the Materials Research Society’s Fall Meeting in Boston on December 1, 2026.
The presentation, titled “Distortion-Free Biological Imaging with Water Invisible Elastomer,” is expected to highlight the material’s optical characteristics and demonstrate how its properties can address longstanding challenges in biological imaging.
According to Axoft, the presentation will focus on the simultaneous optimization of optical, mechanical and manufacturing properties.
This work is intended to demonstrate that it may be possible to overcome traditional compromises between high imaging performance and practical device fabrication.
The presentation will provide an opportunity for researchers and materials scientists to learn more about WISE and its potential applications in biological imaging and microstructured devices.
Broader Implications for Biological Research
The introduction of Fleuron WISE reflects a broader trend toward the development of specialized materials designed around the needs of advanced biological technologies.
Traditional materials may provide adequate mechanical or optical properties individually but may not offer the combination required for sophisticated biological applications.
As imaging platforms become more precise, researchers increasingly require materials that can simultaneously provide optical clarity, mechanical compliance, chemical stability and biological compatibility.
WISE is intended to address several of these requirements within a single material platform.
Its ability to be processed as a liquid or sheet, combined with its moldability, may also make it suitable for both laboratory prototyping and potential commercial device manufacturing.
The material’s selective oxygen and carbon dioxide permeability adds another dimension that could be relevant to systems involving living biological samples, although application-specific testing will determine the suitability of the material for particular uses.
With the launch of Fleuron WISE, Axoft is expanding its advanced polymer portfolio into a new area of high-resolution biological imaging.
The water-matching optical properties of the elastomer are designed to reduce refractive-index-related aberrations, potentially enabling sharper visualization of biological samples in aqueous environments. Its softness, flexibility, water impermeability, biocompatibility and micron-scale moldability further broaden its potential utility.
The material’s development through collaboration with the Shroff Lab underscores its connection to advanced microscopy and cellular imaging research, while its availability in liquid and sheet formats provides researchers and manufacturers with flexibility in how it is incorporated into their systems.
The addition of WISE also strengthens Axoft’s broader Fleuron materials platform, which already encompasses applications in implantable brain-computer interfaces, microfluidics and organ-on-chip technologies.
As biological imaging continues to move toward higher resolution and increasingly complex experimental environments, specialized materials could play a growing role in enabling these technologies.
Axoft’s introduction of Fleuron WISE represents an effort to meet that need by bringing together optical performance, mechanical flexibility, chemical resilience and manufacturing versatility in a single elastomer.
The company plans to continue advancing the material through research collaborations and commercial availability, while its upcoming presentation at the Materials Research Society’s 2026 Fall Meeting is expected to provide additional insight into the technology’s capabilities.
For researchers and companies developing next-generation biological imaging platforms, WISE offers a new materials option designed specifically for aqueous environments where conventional optical interfaces can introduce distortion. Its potential to combine distortion reduction with soft, flexible and precision-moldable structures could make it a useful component in the continued development of high-resolution microscopy, microdevices and other advanced biological technologies.
About Axoft
Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Axoft is building implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces (iBCIs) leveraging bio-inspired materials to enable a seamless interface between the brain and electronics, and allow for measurement and stimulation at high-resolution in any brain region. Axoft is on a mission to unlock new treatments for patients suffering from neurological disorders by producing iBCIs that answer critical unmet needs. For more information, visit www.axoft.us or follow us on LinkedIn.