US-based neurotechnology company Axoft has rolled out Fleuron Water Invisible Soft Elastomer (WISE), a polymer developed to minimise optical distortions during high-resolution imaging of aqueous biological samples.
The new ultraviolet (UV)-curable material is engineered to match water’s refractive index, making it effectively optically “invisible” when submerged.
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This characteristic is intended to provide a sharper, clearer imaging environment for applications involving water-immersed specimens.
Available as a liquid that can be UV-cured in various shapes or as sheets of defined thickness, WISE can also be cast in moulds to form micron-scale structures.
Axoft said the versatility enables its use in a wide range of imaging and micro-structured device workflows. The material is ultra-soft, flexible, biocompatible and impermeable to water.
It is also described as selectively permeable to oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), compatible with harsh solvents, and capable of ultra-low small-molecule sorption.
Axoft co-founder and CEO Dr Paul Le Floch said: “We designed WISE for the most advanced imaging applications in biology, where even the slightest refractive-index mismatch can degrade image quality.
“For biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, as well as research institutions building next-generation imaging platforms of living organisms and biological samples, or optimising optical interfaces in aqueous environments, WISE provides the optical clarity, softness, inertness, moldability and biocompatibility needed for sharp, high-resolution visualisation of biological samples.”
The development of WISE was carried out in collaboration with the Shroff Lab at Janelia Research Campus, which focuses on visible-light super-resolution imaging of cellular structures.
Axoft plans to present further findings on WISE at the Materials Research Society’s autumn conference in Boston on 1 December.
The company’s Fleuron material portfolio, initially launched in the previous year, also supports microfluidics and organ-on-chip systems and forms the basis of Axoft’s implantable brain-computer interface (IBCI) devices.
In April 2026, Axoft completed a $55m fundraising round and planned to further develop its IBCIs.
