Naviscope : image-guided Navigation and VIsualization of large data sets in live cell imaging and microSCOPy

[2018-2022]

Nowadays, the detection and visualization of important localized events and process in multidimensional and multi-valued images, especially in cell and tissue imaging, is tedious and inefficient. Specialized scientists can miss key events due to complexity of the data and the lack of computer guidance. In this proposal, we plan to develop original and cutting-edge visualization and navigation methods to assist scientists, enabling semi-automatic analysis, manipulation, and investigation of temporal series of multi-valued volumetric images, with a strong focus on live cell imaging and microscopy application domains. We will build Naviscope upon the strength of scientific visualization and machine learning methods in order to provide systems capable to assist the scientist to obtain a better understanding of massive amounts of information. Such systems will be able to recognize and highlight the most informative regions of the dataset by reducing the amount of information displayed and guiding the observer attention.

In the Naviscope project, we will address the three following challenges and issues:

• Novel machine learning methods able to detect the main regions of interest, and automatic quantification of sparse sets of molecular interactions and cell processes during navigation to save memory and computational resources.
• Novel visualization methods able to encode 3D motion/deformation vectors and dynamics features with color/texture-based and non-sub-resolved representations, abstractions, and discretization, as used to show 2D motion and deformation vectors and patterns.
• Effective machine learning-driven navigation and interaction techniques for complex functional 3D+Time data enabling the analysis of sparse sets of localized intra-cellular events and cell processes (migration, division, etc.).

Finally, we will have also to overcome the technological challenge of gathering up the software developed in each team to provide a unique original tool for users in biological imaging, and potentially in medical imaging.