Interactive visual exploration of overlapping similar structures for three-dimensional microscope images (original) (raw)

BackgroundRecent advances in microscopy enable the acquisition of large numbers of tomographic images from living tissues. Three-dimensional microscope images are often displayed with volume rendering by adjusting the transfer functions. However, because the emissions from fluorescent materials and the optical properties based on point spread functions affect the imaging results, the intensity value can differ locally, even in the same structure. Further, images obtained from brain tissues contain a variety of neural structures such as dendrites and axons with complex crossings and overlapping linear structures. In these cases, the transfer functions previously used fail to optimize image generation, making it difficult to explore the connectivity of these tissues.ResultsThis paper proposes an interactive visual exploration method by which the transfer functions are modified locally and interactively based on multidimensional features in the images. A direct editing interface is als...