Rebellion Photonics Wins Award for Chemical Imaging

Rice University start-up, Rebellion Photonics, is this year’s grand prize recipient of the $50,000 Goradia Innovation Prize, an annual award given to a startup located in the Gulf Coast region with the most innovative technology, the best business plan and the greatest likelihood of long-term success.

Rebellion Photonics is an advanced optics company that has invented a revolutionary technology using hyperspectral imaging that allows users to see the chemical composition of a scene in real-time.

Typically used within laboratories to optically identify chemicals, hyperspectral imaging systems have had to scan the samples line by line. Now, the company’s innovation takes the entire hyperspectral image instantly. The snapshots can be put in order to create the first ever full-format, high quality, hyperspectral imaging video camera that captures up to 100 fps, said the company.

Its first product, the Arrow, is marketed toward the academic research market. Attached to upright laboratory microscopes, the Arrow allows users to record and analyze hyperspectral video of its samples. In addition, it is more sensitive with better signal to noise ratio than traditional scanning methods. It can also differentiate with real-time spectral unmixing up to 10 different dyes, and extends the life of living cells by reducing drastically photobleaching.

“We hope that the Arrow will enable many more discoveries in medicine, biology and nanotechnology where real-time dynamic chemical imaging is essential,” said Dr. Artur Olszak, director of engineering.

For more information, visit: www.rebellionphotonics.com