Visualization Software for 3D Video Microscopy: A Design Study

Abstract

Modern microscopy techniques allow for fascinating new insights into the development of life. They produce, for example, digital 3D+T records of living embryos that reveal how a single cell develops into a complex specimen consisting of thousands of cells. To cope with the huge amount of data, dedicated software is required to help biologists visualize and analyze their data. In close cooperation with experts from biology and image processing, we developed a software for the visual analysis of 3D videos of growing organisms, which is introduced in this paper. We detail the implemented visualizations, the GUI design, and the incorporated interaction methods. We include results of the application of our software in three groups focusing on organismal studies and detail lessons learned of the two-year cooperative software development.