New collaboration pairs patented advanced microscopy techniques with patented sample preparation technologies to expand possibilities for nanometer-scale three-dimensional isotropic imaging.

Denver, Colorado – November 11^th 2026 – 3i (Intelligent Imaging Innovations) and panluminate today announced a partnership to commercialize panoptix, a new light sheet microscope system designed specifically for panluminate’s patented pan-expansion microscopy (pan-ExM) technologies. Under the partnership, 3i will manufacture and deliver panoptix systems to researchers around the world.

pan-ExM enlarges tissue nearly 8,000-fold in volume and stains its proteins to provide the dense structural contrast needed to resolve individual synapses and trace neural circuits. Many commercially available light sheet microscope systems either lack the required resolution or cannot accommodate samples this large. By engineering panoptix specifically for pan-ExM specimens prepared with the automated tissue expansion system panexpanse, the companies aim to provide researchers with a turnkey solution from sample preparation to three-dimensional imaging.

“We’re excited to partner with panluminate to build a microscope around the possibilities of their technologies,” said Bill Fester, Vice President of Business Development at 3i. “The system is designed for high-resolution near-isotropic whole-brain mapping at the speed and precision connectomics requires.”

“When we first envisioned mapping brains at industrial scale, one problem stood out. Even with the best expansion preps, spine necks and thin axons that remain unresolved in depth can make proofreading unmanageable. We had to decide whether to expand further or build a better microscope” said Ons M’Saad, co-founder and CEO of panluminate. “We designed panoptix with 3i around exactly that problem, and I’m proud of what we’ve built together. This is the first microscope that meets those requirements. It can hold an entire expanded fly brain, which a year ago would have been unimaginable, and I see it becoming a workhorse for large-scale brain mapping. ”

panoptix will be on exhibit at panluminate’s booth 2126 at Neuroscience 2026 in Washington D.C. this November 15^th – 18^th 2026.

To learn more about panoptix and the partnership, visit https://www.panluminate.com/panoptix or contact sales@panluminate.com.

About 3i

3i designs and manufactures technologies for live-cell and intravital fluorescence microscopy including spinning disk confocal, multi-photon, photomanipulation and lightsheet. SlideBook software manages everything from instrument control to image capture, processing and analysis. 3i is headquartered in Denver, Colorado (USA) with offices in France, The United Kingdom, and Germany. Learn more at https://www.intelligent-imaging.com.

About panluminate

panluminate is industrializing molecular connectomics. Founded on pan-Expansion Microscopy developed at Yale University by Ons M’Saad in Joerg Bewersdorf’s laboratory, the New Haven, Connecticut company builds the chemistry, instruments and software to map brain circuits at scale. Learn more at www.panluminate.com/panoptix.

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