Procedures

  Digital image processing

The MOUSE BASEMENT MEMBRANE BODYMAP consists of hundreds of high resolution images taken from immunohistochemically and hematoxylin/eosin stained mouse embryo slices. Each image consists of approximately 900 separate composite images, each of which is created by composition of 6-11 different focal plane photographs taken with a 1.36 megapixel digital camera, and then stitched and blended together into one seamless composite. The final image is 45,000 x 30,000 pixels in size, and contains about 1.35 billion pixels, which is a file size of 3.6 gigabytes. The digital images were converted to virtual slides with ZOOMA software, which enables high quality image transfer at high speed over the Internet and provides free ranges of zoom and movement of the images on the client computer. Virtual slides created from an immunostained slice and the adjacent hematoxylin/eosin stained slice were then synchronized along their ranges of zoom and position movement.

  Hardware components

Microscope: NIKON 80i
Lens: Nikon PLANAPO 10x
Digital Camera: QIMAGING QICAM
XYZ motorized stage and the controller: PRIOR ProScan
Computers: Mac G5 2.7GHz Dual with OS10.4 Tiger, Dell Precision670 Xeon 3.6GHz with Windows XP Professional x64, Dell PowerEdge SC1420 Xeon 3.2GHz with Windows 2003 server.

  Software

Camera control, image acquisition, composition, tiling and blending: Media Cybernetics Co. Image-Pro PLUS
Image Processing: Adobe Co. Photoshop CS; TRliS Solution Co. Zooma Server Professional, Zooma Flex Viewer Control, Zooma Viewer Control