ACUITYnanoACUITYnanonano · micro · bio · medical

Solutions

One deterministic loop, applied across life science, medicine and quantum sensing

Each case study shows the same core capability at work: sensing, decision-making and actuation closed into a single real-time loop.

Life Science

Closed-loop imaging, culture and cell handling for discovery and cell manufacturing.

HHMI JANELIA RESEARCH CAMPUS ·

Vision-guided precision control for long-term 4D biomedical imaging

Hardware, firmware, and software control architecture enabling long-term 4D physiological imaging in integration with the gently autonomous microscopy platform.

Sense
Multi-view 4D optical imaging & sensor telemetry
Decide
Deterministic firmware & hardware control logic
Act
Closed-loop environmental regulation & precision positioning

Challenge

Autonomous 4D live-cell and model-organism imaging requires high-level agentic platforms to make intelligent acquisition decisions without introducing latency, jitter, or safety hazards at the physical stage and sample environment.

Solution

ACUITYnano designed and implemented the dedicated hardware, firmware, and low-level software stack that interfaces with the gently agentic platform — closing the loop between real-time optical feedback, micro-positioning, and physiological environmental control with deterministic hardware timing.

Impact

Delivered the robust physical execution layer needed for autonomous, multi-day 4D acquisition, ensuring specimen integrity and deterministic safety while allowing high-level AI orchestration to drive experiments.

Publications & Announcements

Physical AI integrationAgentic hardwareEmbedded firmwareSignal integrity4D imaging

U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (FDA) ·

High-throughput imaging-based sorting of mesenchymal stromal cells

A patented, morphology-based adherent cell sorter that uses cell shape as a critical quality attribute for stem cell therapies.

Sense
Label-free tomographic imaging
Decide
Computer vision & machine learning
Act
Light-based selective isolation

Challenge

Stem cell therapies show promise for stroke, diabetes and heart disease, but cell heterogeneity limits clinical success. Surface markers alone are insufficient, and flow cytometry cannot assess features only visible in adherent cells — morphology, confluency, spatial distribution and growth dynamics.

Solution

With an FDA-inspired early-stage startup and Dr. Ross Marklein (creator of FDA specifications for MSCs), ACUITYnano developed a sorter that uses high-resolution pixelated light-generating arrays to obtain tomographic information on unstained adherent cells of arbitrary shape and size — adapting principles of live-sample light-sheet microscopy.

Impact

Fast, gentle isolation of specialized cells from large heterogeneous cultures for expansion — a step toward safe, FDA-approved cell-based therapies.

Computer visionMachine learningFPGA / VHDLMicrofluidicsCell sorting

NASA missions · Spaceflight

In collaboration with Blue Kick and Dr. Emilio Barbera-Guillem, Founder of Celartia

Autonomous cell culture in microgravity

Autonomous systems that grow, feed and optically monitor living cells on NASA missions without human intervention.

Sense
Automated optical monitoring
Decide
Embedded culture control
Act
Microfluidic feeding & environment

Challenge

Cell development under microgravity must be cultured and observed for weeks with no operator on hand.

Solution

Microfluidic culture combined with automated imaging and embedded control keeps cells alive and monitored throughout the mission.

Impact

Reliable, unattended biology experiments in space.

MicrofluidicsEmbedded systemsSpaceflightMore on microfluidics →

In partnership with a biotechnology startup, aimed at making personalized healthcare and testing more affordable and accessible. ·

High-Speed Multi-Channel Spectrometer

A parallel optical spectrometer architecture delivering continuous, high-speed simultaneous multi-channel digitization, capturing transient spectral phenomena with zero inter-channel time skew.

Sense
Broad-spectrum multi-channel optical detection (UV to NIR)
Decide
Deterministic edge timing & simultaneous channel synchronization
Act
Continuous high-speed data streaming & closed-loop trigger synchronization

Challenge

Traditional multiplexed spectrometers sample channels sequentially, introducing phase delay and spectral distortion across fast transient events, while computational reconstruction requires heavy, latency-prone processing. Capturing microsecond-scale dynamics — such as rapid metabolic shifts in microfluidic organ-on-a-chip environments or transient optical kinetics — demands true phase-aligned acquisition at hardware speed.

Solution

ACUITYnano engineered a fully parallel optical front-end and deterministic hardware timing architecture. By synchronizing simultaneous multi-channel acquisition through proprietary edge control logic, the system captures true, unskewed multi-spectral snapshots in real time without sequential multiplexing artifacts or heavy computational overhead.

Impact

Continuous, gap-free megahertz-rate spectral monitoring across broad UV-to-NIR bands — a compact, in-line bioanalytical sensor that integrates with continuous microfluidics, 4D microscopy and transient optical diagnostics.

High-speed spectroscopySimultaneous samplingEdge control engineZero time-skewIn-line bioanalytics

Medicine

Image-guided therapy, diagnostics and immunotherapy built on deterministic control.

NEUROPARTICLE CORPORATION · Commercialized by Cerevia

Modular image-guided therapy & distributed SDR control system

A massively parallel FPGA control system and custom SDR network for a next-generation modular image-guided therapy (IGT) platform, now being commercialized by Cerevia (cerevia.care) for non-invasive neuromodulation and targeted delivery.

Sense
Parallel sensor ingestion with microsecond time correlation & medical imaging
Decide
Distributed FPGA SDR network with on-the-fly down-conversion
Act
Synchronized RF & magnetic actuation across hundreds of modules

Challenge

Image-guided therapy demands precise timing and accurate generation of complex waveforms across hundreds of independent modules — an environment where a microsecond of latency means complete system failure, and where traditional polling architectures bottleneck multi-sensor feedback.

Solution

ACUITYnano architected a modular FPGA control system operating as a highly resilient, distributed custom SDR network — performing on-the-fly down-conversion and complex RF signal generation across hundreds of synchronized modules with 8-nanosecond precision and sub-50 picosecond timing jitter. A companion distributed FPGA ingestion architecture simultaneously captures data from hundreds of parallel sensors with microsecond-level time correlation, eliminating traditional polling bottlenecks.

Impact

Delivers deterministic, multi-channel control in a compact modular architecture — enabling mobile, point-of-care solutions that move complex high-precision procedures from specialized hospital centers into more accessible clinical settings.

Publications

Massively parallel FPGACustom SDRRF waveform generationSub-nanosecond timingDSPMedical imagingMagnet controlPower electronics

Biomedical research · Research

Magnetic steering for targeted drug delivery

Feedback control of external electromagnets positions ferrofluid at a distance — toward directing therapeutic nanoparticles to disease locations.

Sense
Imaging of ferrofluid position
Decide
Optimal feedback control
Act
Dynamic magnetic fields

Challenge

A single magnet always attracts magnetic fluid, making precise positioning at a distance difficult.

Solution

Optimal, minimum-power feedback control of multiple electromagnets, extended to electropermanent magnet systems for opening the blood-brain barrier under imaging guidance.

Impact

Closed-loop magnetic manipulation for image-guided therapy.

Publications

Magnetic controlDrug deliveryImage-guided therapyMore on biomedical devices →

BIO-FLUID ANALYSIS & REPORTING SYSTEM ·

Automated in-situ bio-fluid analysis and diagnostic reporting

ACUITYnano was the solution provider for an automated bio-fluid analysis and reporting system that collects a sample, analyzes it, and reports results without manual laboratory preparation.

Sense
Optical bio-fluid analyte sensing
Decide
Embedded processing & analysis
Act
Fluid routing, cartridge indexing & reporting

Challenge

Conventional bio-fluid testing depends on manual sample handling, transport to a central laboratory and delayed reporting — slowing decisions and introducing variability.

Solution

ACUITYnano engineered a closed-loop architecture that unifies sample acquisition and fluid routing, automated cartridge indexing, optical analyte sensing and embedded processing with automated result reporting.

Impact

A compact, repeatable path from sample to report at the point of collection, demonstrating the deterministic sensing–decision–actuation loop applied to diagnostics.

Publications

DiagnosticsFluid handlingOptical sensingEmbedded systemsPatent

EXOCYTE THERAPEUTICS PTE LTD ·

Harvesting and delivering tumor exosomes into dendritic cells

ACUITYnano was the solution provider for ExoCyte Therapeutics Pte Ltd, leading ideation and concept engineering of methods for harvesting tumor exosomes and delivering them into dendritic cells for medical diagnostics and immunotherapy.

Sense
Tumor exosome harvesting & characterization
Decide
Ex vivo priming & dosing
Act
Delivery into dendritic cells

Challenge

Tumor-derived exosomes carry rich, patient-specific antigen profiles, but isolating these fragile nanoscale vesicles and delivering them into immune cells ex vivo without losing potency is a major engineering hurdle.

Solution

ACUITYnano conceived and engineered methods to harvest extracellular vesicles from diseased cells and deliver them ex vivo into the patient's own dendritic cells, priming them before reintroduction to trigger a targeted immune response.

Impact

A foundation for personalized, exosome-based vaccines — bridging nanoscale vesicle handling with immunotherapy and diagnostics.

Publications

ImmunotherapyExosomesCell engineeringDiagnosticsPatentMore on biomedical devices →

Quantum Sensing

Nanometer-precision steering and sensing of quantum dots and nano-objects.

In collaboration with University of Maryland, College Park · U.S. Patents 7,651,598 & 8,110,083

Near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) on a chip

An inexpensive microscope accessory that replaces NSOM mechanics with precisely controlled fluid flow, steering quantum-dot probes to reach 10 nm imaging resolution.

Sense
Nanometer localization of quantum-dot probes
Decide
Real-time flow control algorithms
Act
Microfluidic probe positioning

Challenge

Light microscopes are limited to about a micrometer by the wavelength of light. Commercial NSOMs cost over $200,000, need vibration isolation and highly trained users, and their mechanical tips limit resolution to 50–100 nm.

Solution

The chip creates the flow, the microscope locates the nanoprobe (e.g. a quantum dot) to nanometer precision, and the probe's intensity at each location yields the nano-resolved image.

Impact

Low-cost nano-resolved imaging that substantially outperforms commercial NSOM systems, with no vibration isolation and simple operation.

Publications

NanotechnologyNear-field opticsQuantum dotsMicrofluidicsMore on NSOM on a chip →

University of Maryland research · Research

3D electrokinetic tweezing of cells and particles

Vision-based flow and electric field control steers and traps microparticles in three dimensions with accuracy as good as 1 μm.

Sense
Real-time 3D imaging
Decide
Model-based feedback control
Act
Electric & fluidic field shaping

Challenge

Precisely manipulating cells, quantum dots and nanowires on-chip without mechanical contact.

Solution

A multi-layer microfluidic device, model-based control algorithm and 3D imaging algorithm connected in a real-time feedback loop.

Impact

Simple, easy-to-fabricate devices that steer a wide variety of objects to nanoscopic precision.

Publications

MicrofluidicsControl algorithmsComputer visionMore on nanoscale probing →

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