Computational Science in Metrology

All materials found on this and other related web pages are parts of a prototype research solution to enabling science from terabyte-sized images in stem cell biology and materials science.

In our research, the terabyte-sized images are acquired over several days or in three dimensions (3D) using various microscopes. The raw images from a microscope consist of a set of 2D image tiles that were acquired as spatially overlapping fields of view (FOV) of a specimen over time or as Z-stacks of images from an imaged volume.

In order to deliver measurements over large images on the Web, we performed several image pre-processing computations. The computations include background correction, stitching, foreground segmentation, object tracking, and feature extraction. To enable interactive visualization and measurements in a Web browser, we extended the Deep Zoom framework and developed measurement tools running over local data. The overall architecture and building blocks are shown in Figure 1.

The access to various experimental and reference data sets has been made available via the interactive Deep Zoom interfaces and simple download pages here. The corresponding technical details can be found here and in related publications.

Prototype system overview
An overview of the prototype system including the pre-processing computational steps to prepare the terabyte-sized images for interactive measurements on the Web.

DISCLAIMER

Commercial products are identified in this document in order to specify the experimental procedure adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the products identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose.