Phaseform on Tour: ELMI 2026

ELMI 2026 has officially come to a close, and what an incredible week it was! The Phaseform team has returned from the beautiful city of Coimbra, Portugal.

As a cornerstone event for the European light microscopy community, ELMI is always more than just a conference—it is a gathering of a passionate "microscopy family" where research meets industry. From the fantastic local atmosphere and great food to the high-level technical exchanges, this year’s event was a full success.

Here is a recap of our highlights from a highly successful week at Booth B9.

Innovation on Display: Inside the Phaseform Booth

Throughout the event, our team—Pouya Rajaeipour and Leon Fixl—welcomed attendees to showcase how Phaseform’s advanced adaptive optics (AO) solutions are actively correcting aberrations in microscopy. Whether the aberrations originate from the optical system itself, refractive-index mismatch, or the depth of the sample, our goal remains the same: enabling deeper, high-quality imaging.

Visitors to Booth B9 got an up-close look at our core product lineup:

• PHI: Our innovative, plug-and-play adaptive optics camera-port attachment designed seamlessly for commercial microscopes.

• Delta 7: Our transmissive wavefront modulators, featuring precise 10 mm and 20 mm clear apertures.

• Phinden: Our powerful, image-based aberration measurement software for automated aberration correction.

  
  

A Collaborative Live Demo

A major highlight of our booth was the live PHI demo, which drew significant interest from researchers and industry. This showcase was made possible thanks to our fantastic collaborators. The setup featured an OpenFrame microscope from Ultimeyes GmbH paired with illumination from Omicron-Laser. Additionally, PHI is co-developed with akrima.

Sharing Knowledge: The Thursday Poster Presentation

Beyond the booth, Phaseform was active in the scientific program. On Thursday, we hosted a well-attended poster presentation titled:

“Plug-&-play adaptive optics in commercial microscopes using deformable phase plates.”

The presentation sparked excellent technical discussions regarding the ease of integrating deformable phase plates into existing commercial systems, eliminating the historical complexity often associated with adopting adaptive optics.

The Spirit of ELMI: Community & Connections

What makes ELMI uniquely special is the collaborative energy shared between scientists, facility managers, and industry developers. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing your feedback, exploring your unique imaging challenges, and discussing the best AO approaches for a wide variety of bioimaging applications.

A huge thank you to the organization PPBI, everyone who stopped by, shared their insights, or grabbed a coffee with Pouya and Leon.

Missed Us in Coimbra?

If you didn't get a chance to connect with us during the busy conference days, or if you want to follow up on a conversation regarding how PHI, Delta 7, or Phinden can improve your imaging data, we would love to hear from you.

Contact our team today to arrange a virtual meeting or request a technical consultation for your microscopy setup!