Computer Processing Of Electron Microscope Images

Towards the end of the 1960s, a number of quite different circumstances combined to launch a period of intense activity in the digital processing of electron micro graphs. First, many years of work on correcting the resolution-limiting aberrations of electron microscope objectives had shown that these optical impediments to very high resolution could indeed be overcome, but only at the cost of immense exper imental difficulty; thanks largely to the theoretical work of K. -J. Hanszen and his colleagues and to the experimental work of F. Thon, the notions of transfer func tions were beginning to supplant or complement the concepts of geometrical optics in electron optical thinking; and finally, large fast computers, capable of manipu lating big image matrices in a reasonable time, were widely accessible. Thus the idea that recorded electron microscope images could be improved in some way or rendered more informative by subsequent computer processing gradually gained ground. At first, most effort was concentrated on three-dimensional reconstruction, particu larly of specimens with natural symmetry that could be exploited, and on linear operations on weakly scattering specimens (Chap. l). In 1973, however, R. W. Gerchberg and W. O. Saxton described an iterative algorithm that in principle yielded the phase and amplitude of the electron wave emerging from a strongly scattering speci men.

Computer Techniques for Image Processing in Electron Microscopy: Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics presents the sophisticated computer generated in processing the image. This book discusses the development of fast Fourier transform algorithms, which has led to the possibility of achieving a more reliable interpretation of electron micrographs by digital means. Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of image formation in which the properties of the linear approximation are included. This text then reviews the available hardware and the basic mathematical methods of image processing in electron microscopy. Other chapters consider the constraints imposed on the image wave function by the objective lens aperture. This book discusses as well the properties of discrete Fourier transforms. The final chapter deals with a particular processing system called the Improc system. This book is a valuable resource for physicists and researcher workers who are interested in the study of image processing.

This updated and revised edition of a classic work provides a summary of methods for numerical computation of high resolution conventional and scanning transmission electron microscope images. At the limits of resolution, image artifacts due to the instrument and the specimen interaction can complicate image interpretation. Image calculations can help the user to interpret and understand high resolution information in recorded electron micrographs. The book contains expanded sections on aberration correction, including a detailed discussion of higher order (multipole) aberrations and their effect on high resolution imaging, new imaging modes such as ABF (annular bright field), and the latest developments in parallel processing using GPUs (graphic processing units), as well as updated references. Beginning and experienced users at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level will find the book to be a unique and essential guide to the theory and methods of computation in electron microscopy.

Computer Techniques for Image Processing in Electron Microscopy, Volume 214 in the Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics series, presents the latest advances in the field, with this new volume covering Image Formation Theory, The Discrete Fourier Transform, Analytic Images, The Image and Diffraction Plane Problem: Uniqueness, The Image and Diffraction Plane Problem: Numerical Methods, The Image and Diffraction Plane Problem: Computational Trials, Alternative Data for the Phase Determination, The Hardware of Digital Image Handling, Basic Software or Digital Image Handling, Improc, and much more. Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors Presents the latest release in the Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics series

The technology of automatic pattern recognition and digital image processing, after over two decades of basic research, is now appearing in important applications in biology and medicine as weIl as industrial, military and aerospace systems. In response to a suggestion from Mr. Norman Caplan, ·the Program Director for Automation, Bioengineering and Sensing at the United States National Science Foundation, the authors of this book organized the first Uni ted States-France Seminar on Biomedical Image Processing. The seminar met at the Hotel Beau Site, St. Pierre de Chartreuse, France on May 27-31, 1980. This book contains most of the papers presented at this seminar, as weIl as two papers (by Bisconte et al. and by Ploem ~ al.) discussed at the seminar but not appearing on the program. We view the subject matter of this seminar as a confluence amon~ three broad scientific and engineering disciplines: 1) biology and medicine, 2) imaging and optics, and 3) computer science and computer engineering. The seminar had three objectives: 1) to discuss the state of the art of biomedical image processing with emphasis on four themes: microscopic image analysis, radiological image analysis, tomography, and image processing technology; 2) to place values on directions for future research so as to give guidance to agencies supporting such research; and 3) to explore and encourage various areas of cooperative research between French and Uni ted States scientists within the field of Biomedical Image Processing.

The use of computer-based image analysis systems for all kinds of images, but especially for microscope images, has become increasingly widespread in recent years, as computer power has increased and costs have dropped. Software to perform each of the various tasks described in this book exists now, and without doubt additional algorithms to accomplish these same things more efficiently, and to perform new kinds of image processing, feature discrimination and measurement, will continue to be developed. This is likely to be true particularly in the field of three-dimensional imaging, since new microscopy methods are beginning to be used which can produce such data. It is not the intent of this book to train programmers who will assemble their own computer systems and write their own programs. Most users require only the barest of knowledge about how to use the computer, but the greater their understanding of the various image analysis operations which are possible, their advantages and limitations, the greater the likelihood of success in their application. Likewise, the book assumes little in the way of a mathematical background, but the researcher with a secure knowledge of appropriate statistical tests will find it easier to put some of these methods into real use, and have confidence in the results, than one who has less background and experience. Supplementary texts and courses in statistics, microscopy, and specimen preparation are recommended as necessary.